Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.5% of households
In Cold Ash, 4.5% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. Its 669 households held 2,267 residents at the 2021 Census. The census found that 6% of residents give unpaid care here. With a median age of 39.2, Cold Ash is younger than 84% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Cold Ash’s people
A student village
The 2021 Census counted 231 full-time students aged 16 and over, 14% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 98% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
A village people move to
15% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns, and 1.6% gave a term-time address. Students & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A young village: 16% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 10–14: 17% of residents, 2.9 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The census found that 18% of residents are 65 or over in Cold Ash.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
61% women, 39% men
About 63 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
Cold Ash ranks above 98% of UK towns on full-time students: 14%
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%.
Leave the students aside and Cold Ash’s other adults differ from England’s: 57% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns. For Cold Ash, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 15%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A smaller share of one-person households than 99% of UK towns: 15%
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.
Against a figure of 29% across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children in Cold Ash comes in at 31%. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.6 people on average. The village has more shared households of unrelated adults than 95% of UK towns, at 4.8%.
Cold Ash sits above 99% of UK towns for households in detached houses (76%)
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
Terraced houses are home to 3.2% of households, against 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Cold Ash: 12% of residents born outside the UK
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (4.1%), then in EU countries (3.7%). Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Lower than in nearly three fifths of UK towns: 97% of residents have English as their main language. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 23% (England’s towns: 21%).
Fewer residents with no religion than 89% of UK towns: 33%
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 Cold Ash · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as White British at 87%, Cold Ash is behind 74% of UK towns on that count. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 57%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%.
60% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 98% 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 giving 50 hours or more a week: 40. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Lower than in 78% of UK towns: 28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
46% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
46% of Cold Ash’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 9.8% have none (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 15%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Of the 7 towns nearest Cold Ash, 6 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Ash | 2,267 | — | 39.2 | 18% | 31% |
| Hermitage | 2,224 | 1.7 mi | 38.9 | 14% | 44% |
| Thatcham | 25,537 | 2 mi | 41.1 | 16% | 31% |
| Upper Bucklebury | 1,036 | 2.2 mi | 47.5 | 24% | 32% |
| Newbury | 42,262 | 3.3 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 28% |
| Compton | 1,789 | 5.9 mi | 41.2 | 15% | 40% |
| Upper Basildon | 1,074 | 6.6 mi | 47.1 | 20% | 32% |
| Woolton Hill and Highclere | 2,755 | 7.1 mi | 48.1 | 23% | 33% |
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 Cold Ash’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 Cold Ash’s residents
What is the population of Cold Ash?
The 2021 Census counted 2,267 people in Cold Ash’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cold Ash?
The median age was 39.2 at the 2021 Census. 16% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
Is Cold Ash a student village?
Yes: 14% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (231 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns.
How diverse is Cold Ash?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cold Ash?
33% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 8.3% didn’t answer.
Is Cold Ash good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cold Ash’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.