Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0In Sandhurst, 7.6% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 93% of UK towns
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, just over two in five households live in a detached house here. At the 2021 Census Sandhurst was home to 20,220 people in 7,750 households. Here, 24% of households are one person living alone. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Sandhurst sits lower than 84% of UK towns: 81%.
What the Census says about Sandhurst’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Sandhurst at 20,900 in 2011 and 20,100 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 95% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Sandhurst changed by −4% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sandhurst’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 20,900 people in 2011; 20,100 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+57%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−20%).
Sandhurst is younger than 70% of UK towns: a median age of 41.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as across England’s towns: 12%. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 18%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sandhurst, 41.8. 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 students than 76% of UK towns: 5.6% of adults in Sandhurst
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%.
41% of Sandhurst’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns: 3.6%. Households with dependent children are more common here than in just over four fifths of UK towns.
More terraced houses than 50% of UK towns: 20% of households
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
Here, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment. Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%.
Sandhurst: 15% 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
A fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Residents whose main language is English: 93% of the total.
Residents with no religion: 40%, a lower share than 58% 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: 81% of Sandhurst · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (4.9%), Indian (2.1%) and Mixed or multiple (2.1%). On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Sandhurst sits lower than nearly three quarters of UK towns: 46%. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns.
Unpaid carers make up 7% in Sandhurst, less than in 96% 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
With married adults and civil partners at 51%, Sandhurst is ahead of 71% of UK towns on that count. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns. 315 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
34% of Sandhurst’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have none (18%).
From a median age of 38 in College Town to 50 in Crowthorne South
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.
Crowthorne South is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; College Town the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Owlsmoor & Broadmoor (32% of households).
84th youngest of 310 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Sandhurst in age: Ware (41.7), Newport (41.7), Reigate (41.8) and Rhyl (41.8).
Sandhurst sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandhurst | 20,220 | — | 41.8 | 18% | 32% |
| Blackwater | 7,170 | 1 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 31% |
| Hawley | 2,581 | 1.5 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 23% |
| Crowthorne | 15,196 | 1.8 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 31% |
| Yateley | 14,676 | 2.1 mi | 46.4 | 24% | 28% |
| Camberley | 36,787 | 2.5 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 31% |
| Minley | 1,041 | 2.6 mi | 22.3 | 3.9% | 21% |
| Frimley | 15,101 | 3.5 mi | 43.9 | 20% | 32% |
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 Sandhurst’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. Sandhurst’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 20,220 people in 2021, against 20,220 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 Sandhurst’s residents
What is the population of Sandhurst?
The 2021 Census counted 20,220 people in Sandhurst’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 20,100 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sandhurst?
The median age was 41.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sandhurst?
81% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sandhurst?
40% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Sandhurst good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Owlsmoor & Broadmoor (32% of households). Schools are on Sandhurst’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.