Photo: Michael Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0Burghfield sits below 99% of UK towns for households without a car or van (3.6%)
One-person households make up 19%, against 30% across England’s towns. Across Burghfield, 57% of households live in a detached house. 35% of households have dependent children, more than in 93% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 377 residents here, living in 139 households.
Half of Burghfield is over 46.3, older than 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 21% of residents are 65 or over in Burghfield. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year: 7.2%, a lower share than 81% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Burghfield, 51% and 12%. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Full-time students account for 5.4%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 97% of UK towns: 2.6 people on average
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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 5.8% in Burghfield.
Few flats: only 7.1% of households in Burghfield live in one
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
Households in terraced houses are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. The wider picture: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Burghfield sits above 85% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%). Residents born outside the UK are more common here than in 71% of UK towns. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 86% of UK towns: 57%
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: 87% of Burghfield · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Mixed or multiple (4.2%), Other White (3.5%) and Indian (1.9%). Lower than in 74% of UK towns: 87% of residents describe themselves as White British. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Burghfield comes in at 36%.
Married adults and civil partners: 56%, a higher share than 91% 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 6.8% of residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 90% of UK towns. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 10 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
42% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
42% of Burghfield’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have none (18%).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Burghfield
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burghfield | 377 | — | 46.3 | 21% | 35% |
| Burghfield Common | 6,216 | 1.2 mi | 42.8 | 18% | 35% |
| Theale | 3,053 | 2.1 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 25% |
| Mortimer | 2,932 | 2.6 mi | 47.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross | 7,612 | 3.4 mi | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Reading | 203,789 | 3.8 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 31% |
| Shinfield | 5,417 | 4.2 mi | 35.3 | 9.9% | 45% |
| Pangbourne | 3,279 | 5.2 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 25% |
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 Burghfield’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 Burghfield’s residents
What is the population of Burghfield?
The 2021 Census counted 377 people in Burghfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Burghfield?
The median age was 46.3 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Burghfield?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 9.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Burghfield?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.5% were Muslim and 2.9% didn’t answer.
Is Burghfield good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Burghfield’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.