Photo: Gareth James · CC BY-SA 2.0In Wokingham, 33% of households have dependent children, more than in 87% of UK towns
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 79% of residents describe themselves as White British in Wokingham. At the 2021 Census Wokingham was home to 50,320 people in 20,287 households. One-person households: a quarter of the total. Households in detached houses are more common here than in 86% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wokingham’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Wokingham at 42,400 in 2011 and 54,700 in 2024, up 29%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 94% 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.
Wokingham’s population changed by +29% since 2011, more than in 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wokingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 42,400 people in 2011; 54,700 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+41%) and weakest among the 45 to 64 (+20%). The steepest year was mid-2020 to mid-2021, up 1,340 people.
Wokingham is younger than 66% of UK towns: a median age of 42.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.5%, against 12% across England’s towns. Locally, nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wokingham, 42.5. 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.
Wokingham ranks above 70% of UK towns on full-time students: 5.3%
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%.
One in ten residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 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.
Bigger households than 84% of UK towns: 2.5 people each 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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 2.8% in Wokingham and 4.3% across England’s towns.
10% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 82% 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
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 16% of households live in a flat or apartment here. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 14%.
Fewer residents whose main language is English than 83% of UK towns: 94%
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
18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, against 16% in Wokingham. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (5.3%), then in EU countries (5.2%).
Wokingham ranks below 61% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 39%
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: 79% of Wokingham · Berkshire’s towns 62% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up 47% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. Muslims make up 2.5% of residents.
Wokingham: 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 89% 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
Some 876 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 29%, fewer than in 71% of UK towns. Here 7.1% of residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%.
Among adults, 48% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 48% of Wokingham’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 9.8% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 39 in Wokingham East to 47 in Finchampstead
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Finchampstead is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Wokingham East the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Wokingham North & Hurst (38% of households).
45th oldest of 135 UK towns of 35,000 to 68,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Lytham St Anne's (54.4). Nearest to Wokingham in age: Aberdare (42.3), Sutton in Ashfield (42.5), Long Eaton (42.6) and Leyland (42.7).
Median age: 2 of the 7 towns around Wokingham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wokingham | 50,320 | — | 42.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Winnersh | 8,904 | 2.2 mi | 39.1 | 14% | 38% |
| Binfield | 4,851 | 2.9 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 33% |
| Arborfield Garrison | 4,311 | 3 mi | 32.7 | 5.9% | 44% |
| Crowthorne | 15,196 | 3 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 31% |
| Hurst | 1,009 | 3.7 mi | 47.1 | 18% | 36% |
| Bracknell | 78,662 | 3.9 mi | 38 | 13% | 32% |
| Woodley | 28,019 | 3.9 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 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 Wokingham’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. Wokingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 51,151 people in 2021, against 50,320 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 Wokingham’s residents
What is the population of Wokingham?
The 2021 Census counted 50,320 people in Wokingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 54,700 people in mid-2024, 29% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wokingham?
The median age was 42.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 66% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wokingham?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 62% across Berkshire’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wokingham?
39% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Wokingham good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Wokingham North & Hurst (38% of households). Schools are on Wokingham’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.