Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.032% of households have dependent children, a share 84% of UK towns don’t reach
Just over four in five residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%). Buckingham had 14,296 residents and 5,903 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 40.7 (younger than 77% of UK towns). On the census count, 27% of households are one person living alone. More households in detached houses than in 70% of UK towns: 37%.
What the Census says about Buckingham’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Buckingham at 12,100 in 2011 and 15,200 in 2024, up 26%, 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.
Since 2011, Buckingham has grown +26%, faster than 91% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Buckingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,100 people in 2011; 15,200 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+67%) and 16 to 29 least (−9%). In one year, mid-2016 to mid-2017, the population rose by 670, the most of any year.
A median age of 40.7: Buckingham is younger than 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 18%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Across Buckingham, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Buckingham, 40.7. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year: 13%, a higher share than 93% 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%.
In Buckingham, 42% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across England’s towns, for comparison. Nearly one in ten adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 75% of UK towns: 2.4 people each 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.7% here and 4.3% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 63% of UK towns: 13%
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Buckingham has 13%. Against that, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. For Buckingham, the census puts households in terraced houses at 22%.
Buckingham: 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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 24%. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 95%, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (5.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.9%).
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 59% 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 Buckingham · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Buckingham has 42%. 1.8% of residents are Muslim. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
A smaller share of unpaid carers than 94% of UK towns: 7.3%
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
257 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%. Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Buckingham has 33%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 41%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 41% of adults in Buckingham, 34% across England’s towns; 11% have no qualification, against 18%. The highest qualification of 18% is A levels, often students still at university.
Among 360 UK towns of 10,000 to 19,000 people, the 65th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Buckingham in age: Audenshaw (40.7), Rawmarsh (40.7), Leatherhead (40.7) and Kearsley (40.8).
Around Buckingham, 6 of 7 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckingham | 14,296 | — | 40.7 | 18% | 32% |
| Steeple Claydon | 2,530 | 4.2 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 30% |
| Great Horwood | 1,102 | 4.8 mi | 50.6 | 22% | 25% |
| Deanshanger | 4,128 | 5.5 mi | 41.4 | 17% | 35% |
| Winslow | 5,238 | 5.5 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 26% |
| Calvert | 1,434 | 5.9 mi | 39.4 | 11% | 46% |
| Silverstone | 2,542 | 6.6 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 34% |
| Old Stratford | 2,427 | 6.6 mi | 41.1 | 17% | 34% |
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 Buckingham’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. Buckingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,296 people in 2021, against 14,296 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 Buckingham’s residents
What is the population of Buckingham?
The 2021 Census counted 14,296 people in Buckingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,200 people in mid-2024, 26% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Buckingham?
The median age was 40.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 77% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Buckingham?
81% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Buckingham?
42% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.8% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Buckingham good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Buckingham’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.