Photo: Rob Neild · CC BY-SA 3.0A lower share of households without a car or van than 92% of UK towns, at 8.1%
In Cookham, 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, beside 44% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 83% of UK towns. The town is home to 5,216 residents in 2,186 households, by the 2021 Census. For Cookham, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.6%.
From 2011 to 2024, 78% of UK towns grew faster than Cookham: +1%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Cookham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,400 people in 2011; 5,500 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2013 to mid-2014, 100 people. The 45 to 64 age group moved most (+9%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−17%).
Half of Cookham is over 47.6, older than 72% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%, against 18% across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 50–54: 8.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cookham, 47.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.8%, a lower share than 53% 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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Cookham, 52% and 12%. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Cookham sits below 73% of UK towns for one-person households (27%)
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.
On households with dependent children, 29% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Each household has 2.4 people on average. 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 64% of UK towns.
37% of households live in a detached house, more than in 70% 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
Terraced houses are home to 16% of households, against 24% across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%.
Residents born outside the UK: 11%, a higher share than 79% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.6%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.9%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 98%, fewer than in 53% of UK towns. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 15% (England’s towns: 21%).
89% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 68% of UK towns
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: 89% of Cookham · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (6.4%), Mixed or multiple (2.3%) and Indian (0.7%). At 36%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 77% of UK towns. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Below 85% of UK towns: 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8%, about the same as across England’s towns. Against that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 93 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
A degree-level qualification for 51% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Cookham’s adults: 51% with a degree-level qualification and 10% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
192nd oldest of 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Cookham in age: Chalfont St Giles (47.6), Wotton-under-Edge (47.6), Copthorne (47.6) and South Molton (47.6).
Cookham is younger than 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookham | 5,216 | — | 47.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Bourne End | 7,166 | 1.7 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 27% |
| Marlow | 14,641 | 2.3 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 31% |
| Maidenhead | 67,391 | 2.5 mi | 40.8 | 17% | 33% |
| Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green | 12,438 | 3 mi | 44 | 21% | 30% |
| Marlow Bottom | 3,339 | 3.3 mi | 49.2 | 26% | 33% |
| Hurley | 1,317 | 3.6 mi | 40.8 | 13% | 41% |
| Beaconsfield | 14,142 | 4.9 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 33% |
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 Cookham’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. Cookham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,421 people in 2021, against 5,216 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 Cookham’s residents
What is the population of Cookham?
The 2021 Census counted 5,216 people in Cookham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,500 people in mid-2024, 1% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Cookham?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 8.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cookham?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cookham?
36% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Cookham good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cookham’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. 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.