Photo: Alan Hunt · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 8% of households have no car or van in Ascot
30% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. Households in detached houses account for 41%. Lower than in just over three quarters of UK towns: 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Ascot had 24,003 residents and 9,417 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 45.6 (older than 58% of UK towns).
From 2011 to 2024, 55% of UK towns grew faster than Ascot: +6%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ascot’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 23,800 people in 2011; 25,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+35%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−13%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 360 people.
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 88% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 10–14: 8.6% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 61% of UK towns: 20%. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ascot, 45.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More students than 93% of UK towns: 7.3% of adults in Ascot
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 12% here and 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Ascot households average 2.4 people, larger than in 81% 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.
3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. The census found that 31% of households have dependent children in Ascot. Fewer one-person households than in 74% of UK towns: 27%.
In Ascot, 11% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 85% 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
Flats are home to just over a fifth of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 21%, a higher share than 94% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The share of residents whose main language is English trails 85% of UK towns: 93%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (7.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5.2%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Ascot ranks above 85% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 56%
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: 74% of Ascot · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
2.5% of residents said their religion is Muslim. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Lower than in 90% of UK towns: 74% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Married adults and civil partners make up 54% in Ascot, more than in 83% 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
Where 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, Ascot has 7.1%. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 394 people. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 48% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 48% of adults in Ascot (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 10% (England’s towns: 18%). 15% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
From a median age of 43 in Chavey Down & North Ascot West to 46 in South Ascot & Sunningdale
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
South Ascot & Sunningdale is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Chavey Down & North Ascot West the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in Chavey Down & North Ascot West (32% of households).
Of 248 UK towns its size (17,000 to 32,000 people), the 68th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Egham (31.1), the youngest, and Brixham (55.6), the oldest. Nearest to Ascot in age: Shaw (45.5), Cirencester (45.5), Royton (45.7) and Sedgley (45.7).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Ascot
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascot | 24,003 | — | 45.6 | 20% | 31% |
| Winkfield Row | 1,756 | 2.6 mi | 45.7 | 14% | 35% |
| Windlesham | 3,706 | 2.6 mi | 48.4 | 23% | 29% |
| Bagshot | 5,930 | 3.1 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Bracknell | 78,662 | 3.7 mi | 38 | 13% | 32% |
| Lightwater | 6,539 | 3.9 mi | 49.3 | 25% | 26% |
| Newell Green | 1,871 | 4 mi | 36.4 | 13% | 34% |
| Virginia Water | 5,185 | 4.5 mi | 46.6 | 21% | 32% |
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 Ascot’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Ascot’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 24,579 people in 2021, against 24,003 in the built-up area.
- 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 Ascot’s residents
What is the population of Ascot?
The 2021 Census counted 24,003 people in Ascot’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 25,400 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ascot?
The median age was 45.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ascot?
74% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ascot?
30% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Ascot good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Chavey Down & North Ascot West (32% of households). Schools are on Ascot’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.