Photo: Tom walker · CC BY 3.0Younger than 91% of UK towns: half of Bletchley is under 37.2
18% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). The 2021 Census put Bletchley’s population at 45,018, in 17,641 households. Locally, 65% of residents describe themselves as White British. One-person households are rarer here than in 84% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Bletchley’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Bletchley’s residents are under 37.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Bletchley at 37,500 in 2011 and 46,600 in 2024, up 24%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 91% 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.
A +24% change since 2011: faster than 91% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bletchley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 37,500 people in 2011; 46,600 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2014 to mid-2015, up 1,210 people. By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+41%) and the 45 to 64 group least (+11%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 16%, a lower share than 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 11% in Bletchley. The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.9% of residents. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bletchley, 37.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 88% of UK towns: 6.4%
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%.
By class, 28% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 9.2%, more than in just over three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A family town: 34% of households have dependent children
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.
Households in Bletchley hold 2.5 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. Across Bletchley, 3.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Above 81% of UK towns: 19% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
21% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%. Households in terraced houses account for 25%.
More residents born outside the UK than 94% of UK towns: 22%
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
Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language; in Bletchley, 89%. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (8.9%), then in Africa (5.9%).
44% describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 81% 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: 65% of Bletchley · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 37% across England’s towns, 38% of residents said they have no religion here. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. Next after White British come Other White (9.1%), African (7.4%) and Mixed or multiple (4.2%).
A higher share of adults who have never married than 80% of UK towns, at 38%
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
Nothing unusual on married adults and civil partners: 44%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Fewer unpaid carers than in three quarters of UK towns: 8.4%. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 1,129 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
27% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Bletchley counts 27% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 21% have no qualification (18%). A levels are as far as 16% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
From a median age of 30 in Granborough, Stewkley & Great Brickhill to 42 in Bletchley West
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.
Bletchley West is the oldest area, with 20% aged 65 or over; Granborough, Stewkley & Great Brickhill the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Granborough, Stewkley & Great Brickhill (63% of households).
17th youngest of 157 UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Bletchley in age: Eccles (36.8), Aldershot (37), Grays (37.4) and Bridgwater (37.5).
6 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Bletchley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bletchley | 45,018 | — | 37.2 | 16% | 34% |
| Newton Longville | 1,877 | 1.8 mi | 52 | 29% | 25% |
| Stoke Hammond | 1,155 | 2.5 mi | 48.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Milton Keynes | 197,328 | 3.3 mi | 36.7 | 12% | 36% |
| Woburn Sands | 4,315 | 4.1 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 29% |
| Stewkley | 1,421 | 4.3 mi | 45.4 | 23% | 31% |
| Aspley Guise | 2,114 | 4.6 mi | 52.4 | 28% | 23% |
| Heath and Reach | 1,451 | 4.8 mi | 50.9 | 27% | 26% |
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 Bletchley’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. Bletchley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 44,506 people in 2021, against 45,018 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 Bletchley’s residents
What is the population of Bletchley?
The 2021 Census counted 45,018 people in Bletchley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 46,600 people in mid-2024, 24% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bletchley?
The median age was 37.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 91% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bletchley?
65% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 22% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bletchley?
38% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 8.4% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bletchley good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Granborough, Stewkley & Great Brickhill (63% of households). Schools are on Bletchley’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.