Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Reading is under 35.7, younger than 95% of UK towns
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (7.3%), Reading is above 98% of UK towns. 44% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. The city has fewer households in detached houses than 81% of UK towns, at 17%. At the 2021 Census, 203,789 people lived here, in 78,217 households.
What the Census says about Reading’s people
More born abroad than most towns
32% of residents were born outside the UK, against 25% across Berkshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (14%) and in EU countries (10%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
46% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 97% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (12%), Indian (7.6%) and Pakistani (5.4%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Reading’s residents are under 35.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 15% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A city 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +16% change since 2011: faster than 77% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Reading’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 184,100 people in 2011; 213,500 in 2024.
Between mid-2012 and mid-2013 the population rose by 4,270, its biggest one-year gain. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+30%) and 16 to 29 least (+8%).
13% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 8.4% of residents. 15% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 97% 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+
■ Reading, 35.7. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
More full-time students than 97% of UK towns: 11%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 15%, against 11% across England’s towns. For comparison, 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.
Larger households than 91% of UK towns: 2.5 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.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Reading, 27%. In Reading, 31% of households have dependent children.
In Reading, 29% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 95% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Reading has 25%. Typically, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 87% of UK towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 32% in Reading, more than in 98% 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 40%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Reading has 82%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (14%) and in EU countries (10%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Below 97% of UK towns: 54% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 54% of Reading · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Reading, just over a third of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 40%. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Only 6.9% of residents give unpaid care in Reading
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
Set against 44% across England’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Reading. 3,555 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Against that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
39% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
39% of Reading’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%). For 17%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 25 in Leighton Park to 46 in Purley on Thames
The city’s 25 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Purley on Thames is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Leighton Park the youngest (median age 25). Students cluster in Leighton Park, where 39% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Southlake (54% of households).
Among 42 UK towns of 143,000 to 275,000 people, the 11th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Cambridge (31.9), the youngest, and Blackpool (44), the oldest. Nearest to Reading in age: Southampton (34.7), Slough (35.3), Peterborough (35.9) and Westminster (35.9).
Around Reading, 5 of 7 towns have a higher median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Reading’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. Reading’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 203,846 people in 2021, against 203,789 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 Reading’s residents
What is the population of Reading?
The 2021 Census counted 203,789 people in Reading’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 213,500 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Reading?
The median age was 35.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 95% of UK towns. 15% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Reading?
54% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 32% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Reading?
35% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 9.4% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Reading good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Southlake (54% of households). Schools are on Reading’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.