Photo: Pam Brophy · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer one-person households than 99% of UK towns: 15%
Nearly two thirds of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 2.4%. At 29%, the share of adults who have never married is lower than in 78% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Arborfield’s population at 499, in 163 households.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 72% of UK towns, at 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 44.9, Arborfield is older than 53% of UK towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Arborfield, 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Arborfield, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 92% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
In Arborfield, 48% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 11% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. At 7.6%, the share of full-time students is higher than in 93% of UK towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Arborfield households average 2.6 people, larger than in 97% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Berkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The figure for households with dependent children is 26% in Arborfield and 29% across England’s towns. 5.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households without a car or van make up 4.2% in Arborfield, less than in 99% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Set against 23% across England’s towns, one in ten households live in a flat or apartment in Arborfield. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van.
14% born outside the UK, more than in 84% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (5%) and in EU countries (4%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. On residents whose main language is English, Arborfield sits lower than 89% of UK towns: 92%.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 82% of UK towns: 83%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 83% of Arborfield · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 37%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as Christian at 55% in Arborfield.
Married adults and civil partners make up 61% in Arborfield, more than in 99% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Unpaid carers make up 6.2%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Against that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
46% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 46% of adults in Arborfield, 34% across England’s towns; 7.9% have no qualification, against 18%. A levels are the highest qualification of 20%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
The towns around Arborfield are all younger
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arborfield | 499 | — | 44.9 | 21% | 26% |
| Shinfield | 5,417 | 1.5 mi | 35.3 | 9.9% | 45% |
| Arborfield Garrison | 4,311 | 1.5 mi | 32.7 | 5.9% | 44% |
| Winnersh | 8,904 | 2.4 mi | 39.1 | 14% | 38% |
| Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross | 7,612 | 2.4 mi | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Wokingham | 50,320 | 3 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Woodley | 28,019 | 3.4 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 33% |
| Reading | 203,789 | 4.1 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 31% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Berkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Berkshire (or England), summed the same way as Arborfield’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Arborfield’s residents
What is the population of Arborfield?
The 2021 Census counted 499 people in Arborfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Arborfield?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Arborfield?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Arborfield?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Arborfield good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Arborfield’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.