Photo: HelenK · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of one-person households than 80% of UK towns, at 26%
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 16% in Thatcham and 18% across England’s towns. The share of households with dependent children stands at 31%. 44% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 72% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 25,537 residents here, living in 10,435 households.
A +1% change since 2011: slower than 81% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Thatcham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 25,300 people in 2011; 25,500 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+55%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−14%). In one year, mid-2011 to mid-2012, the population rose by 220, the most of any year.
Thatcham is younger than 74% of UK towns: a median age of 41.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 8.1% of residents. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 71% of UK towns: 10%. In Wargrave, the oldest of Berkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Thatcham, 41.1. 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.
Full-time students: 4.6%, a lower share than 59% 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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Thatcham has 36% and 24%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 8.2% in the town. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.4 people per household, more than in 82% 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 make up 3.2%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Only 12% of households have no car or van in Thatcham
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
The share of households in terraced houses is 21%, against 24% across England’s towns. In one household in 9 there is no car or van. 13% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 61% of UK towns.
9.6% born outside the UK, more than in 72% 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 whose main language is English make up 96%, against 90% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 89% in Thatcham, less 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 Thatcham · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 1% of residents. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%. 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 66% of UK towns.
Thatcham ranks below 89% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 7.7%
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 adults who have never married at 34%, Thatcham is ahead of 59% of UK towns on that count. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 49% here, more than in 55% of UK towns. Typically, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 544 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
30% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
30% of Thatcham’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
From a median age of 39 in Thatcham South East & Bradfield to 42 in Thatcham Town
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.
Thatcham Town is the oldest area, with 18% aged 65 or over; Thatcham South East & Bradfield the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Thatcham South East & Bradfield (39% of households).
76th youngest of 246 UK towns of 18,000 to 34,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Thatcham in age: Litherland (41.1), Chesham (41.1), Pontefract (41.2) and Stanford-le-Hope (41.2).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Thatcham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thatcham | 25,537 | — | 41.1 | 16% | 31% |
| Upper Bucklebury | 1,036 | 1.8 mi | 47.5 | 24% | 32% |
| Cold Ash | 2,267 | 2 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 31% |
| Newbury | 42,262 | 2.8 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 28% |
| Hermitage | 2,224 | 3.6 mi | 38.9 | 14% | 44% |
| Kingsclere | 2,889 | 5.3 mi | 49.1 | 25% | 23% |
| Tadley | 14,767 | 6 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 27% |
| Woolton Hill and Highclere | 2,755 | 6.2 mi | 48.1 | 23% | 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 Thatcham’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. Thatcham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 25,455 people in 2021, against 25,537 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 Thatcham’s residents
What is the population of Thatcham?
The 2021 Census counted 25,537 people in Thatcham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 25,500 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Thatcham?
The median age was 41.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thatcham?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 9.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thatcham?
44% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Thatcham good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Thatcham South East & Bradfield (39% of households). Schools are on Thatcham’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.