Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0Amersham ranks above 91% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 34%
The share of one-person households trails 83% of UK towns: 26%. Census day 2021: 17,377 residents and 6,980 households in Amersham. 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Fewer households in terraced houses than in 74% of UK towns: 14%.
A change of +7% since 2011 leaves Amersham behind 53% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Amersham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 17,500 people in 2011; 18,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+17%) and the 30 to 44 least (−4%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 250 people.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.1% in Amersham, less than in 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 45–49: 8.2% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. On the census count, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. The median age in Amersham is 44.5, higher than in half of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Amersham, 44.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.9% of adults are full-time students, a share 83% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 53% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 12% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For Amersham, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 9.4%. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 87% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Buckinghamshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Amersham has 2.3%.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 73% of UK towns: 11%
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
By its share of households in detached houses (37%), Amersham is above 69% of UK towns. The census found that just over a fifth of households live in a flat or apartment locally. To put it in context, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Only 93% of residents have English as their main language in Amersham
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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
11% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. In Amersham, 18% of residents were born outside the UK.
Only 35% of residents said they have no religion in Amersham
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: 73% of Amersham · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On residents who describe themselves as White British, 73% here is much the same as across England’s towns. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 47% of the total.
58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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
7.3% of residents give unpaid care (England’s towns: 8.7%). By way of comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 56%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Amersham’s adults: 56% with a degree-level qualification and 9.3% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 336 UK towns its size (12,000 to 23,000 people), the 148th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Amersham in age: Bideford (44.4), Standish (44.5), Chard (44.5) and Ivybridge (44.5).
Amersham and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amersham | 17,377 | — | 44.5 | 21% | 34% |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 1.7 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 38% |
| Chesham | 23,691 | 2.4 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Hyde Heath | 1,048 | 2.5 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 32% |
| Chalfont St Giles | 4,707 | 3.3 mi | 47.6 | 23% | 32% |
| Seer Green | 2,582 | 4 mi | 46 | 22% | 34% |
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | 4.3 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 28% |
| South Heath | 1,278 | 4.3 mi | 48.6 | 22% | 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.
- “Buckinghamshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Buckinghamshire (or England), summed the same way as Amersham’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. Amersham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 18,135 people in 2021, against 17,377 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 Amersham’s residents
What is the population of Amersham?
The 2021 Census counted 17,377 people in Amersham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,700 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Amersham?
The median age was 44.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 50% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Amersham?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Amersham?
35% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Amersham good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Amersham’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.