Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0Bracknell is younger than 89% of UK towns: a median age of 38
37% of households live in a terraced house; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are common here: 32%, more than in 86% of UK towns. Bracknell’s 32,387 households held 78,662 residents at the 2021 Census. Locally, just over three quarters of residents describe themselves as White British.
What the Census says about Bracknell’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Bracknell’s residents are under 38 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Bracknell at 70,600 in 2011 and 82,800 in 2024, up 17%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 80% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
From 2011 to 2024, Bracknell outgrew 80% of UK towns: +17%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bracknell’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 70,600 people in 2011; 82,800 in 2024.
Mid-2021 to mid-2022 brought the biggest yearly rise, 1,400 people. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+40%) and the 16 to 29 least (+3%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 13%, a lower share than 94% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 66% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Wargrave, the oldest of Berkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bracknell, 38. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% in Bracknell, more than in 83% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 21% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). On full-time students, Bracknell sits lower than 58% of UK towns: 4.7%.
2.4 people per household, more 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.
30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, against 28% in Bracknell. Here, 3.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
A smaller share of households in detached houses than 76% of UK towns: 19%
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
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Elsewhere, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. On the census count, 14% of households have no car or van.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 92% of UK towns: 19%
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
18% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 91% here, fewer than in 90% of UK towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (7.3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (5.1%).
42% of residents said they have no religion, a share 58% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 76% of Bracknell · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (9.2%), Indian (3.4%) and Mixed or multiple (3.3%). On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. At 46%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in nearly three quarters of UK towns.
Bracknell: 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 78% 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 7.7%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 46% here, fewer than in three fifths of UK towns. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 1,618 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Degree-level qualifications reach 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 34% of its adults qualified to degree level, Bracknell compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 14% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Central Bracknell & Wildridings to 54 in Winkfield & Cranbourne
The town’s 11 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Winkfield & Cranbourne is the oldest area, with 34% aged 65 or over; Central Bracknell & Wildridings the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Great Hollands (39% of households).
Among 88 UK towns of 55,000 to 106,000 people, the 22nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 50.2 in Weymouth. Nearest to Bracknell in age: Halifax (37.9), West Bromwich (37.9), Stevenage (38.1) and Gravesend (38.3).
Nearby, 6 of 7 towns have older populations than Bracknell
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bracknell | 78,662 | — | 38 | 13% | 32% |
| Newell Green | 1,871 | 1.7 mi | 36.4 | 13% | 34% |
| Binfield | 4,851 | 2 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 33% |
| Winkfield Row | 1,756 | 2.4 mi | 45.7 | 14% | 35% |
| Crowthorne | 15,196 | 3.1 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 31% |
| Ascot | 24,003 | 3.7 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 31% |
| Wokingham | 50,320 | 3.9 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Bagshot | 5,930 | 4.3 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Bracknell’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. Bracknell’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 78,955 people in 2021, against 78,662 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 Bracknell’s residents
What is the population of Bracknell?
The 2021 Census counted 78,662 people in Bracknell’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 82,800 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bracknell?
The median age was 38 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bracknell?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 19% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bracknell?
42% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Bracknell good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Great Hollands (39% of households). Schools are on Bracknell’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.