Photo: Barry Hunter · CC BY-SA 2.0Households with dependent children make up 32% in Caversham, more than in 86% of UK towns
25% of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. Caversham’s 13,264 households held 33,038 residents at the 2021 Census. Here, just over two in five residents describe themselves as Christian. With a median age of 41.8, Caversham is younger than 70% of UK towns.
A change of +4% since 2011 leaves Caversham behind 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Caversham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 31,700 people in 2011; 32,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2012 to mid-2013: 570. Change by age ran from +24% for the 65 and over to −11% for the 30 to 44.
Only 18% of residents are 65 or over in Caversham
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: a tenth of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Caversham, 41.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Caversham sits above 77% of UK towns for full-time students (5.6%)
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%.
9.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, against 11% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.5 people per household, more than in 87% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 4.4%.
Above 76% of UK towns: 17% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
16% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, households in flats come to 23%. The share of households in detached houses stands at 30%. At 21%, the share of households in terraced houses is higher than in 51% of UK towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 92% of UK towns: 20%
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
Set against 90% across England’s towns, 92% of residents have English as their main language in Caversham. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (6.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (6.1%).
More residents with no religion than 64% of UK towns: 43%
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: 73% of Caversham · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
3.6% of residents said their religion is Muslim. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. At 73%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is lower than in 91% of UK towns.
51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 71% 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
The share of adults who have never married is 33%, against 39% across England’s towns. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Census figures put unpaid carers at 7.5% in Caversham.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 50% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 50% of its adults qualified to degree level, Caversham compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 11% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Lower Caversham to 46 in Caversham Heights
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Caversham Heights is the oldest area, with 20% aged 65 or over; Lower Caversham the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Caversham Heights (36% of households).
91st lowest median age among 212 UK towns of 23,000 to 45,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Caversham in age: Wisbech (41.7), Newport (41.7), Reigate (41.8) and Rhyl (41.8).
Caversham is younger than 5 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caversham | 33,038 | — | 41.8 | 18% | 32% |
| Reading | 203,789 | 2 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 31% |
| Sonning | 1,615 | 2.8 mi | 49.9 | 26% | 28% |
| Sonning Common | 5,264 | 3 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 29% |
| Woodley | 28,019 | 3.4 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 33% |
| Charvil | 3,158 | 3.7 mi | 44.2 | 17% | 41% |
| Lower Shiplake | 1,086 | 4.4 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 31% |
| Twyford | 8,072 | 4.7 mi | 43.7 | 20% | 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 Caversham’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. Caversham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,038 people in 2021, against 33,038 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 Caversham’s residents
What is the population of Caversham?
The 2021 Census counted 33,038 people in Caversham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 32,800 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Caversham?
The median age was 41.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Caversham?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 20% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Caversham?
43% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.6% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Caversham good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Caversham Heights (36% of households). Schools are on Caversham’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.