Photo: Jon S · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Chearsley is over 52.5, older than 93% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van; in Chearsley, 5.8%. The village counted 543 residents and 226 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 3.1% of households live in a terraced house. 21% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 96% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 32%, a higher share than 94% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 12%, from the figure across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of full-time students than 87% of UK towns: 6.3%
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%.
8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. Against 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.
2.4 people per household, more than in 83% of UK towns
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.
By its share of households with dependent children (28%), Chearsley is above 61% of UK towns. Across Chearsley, 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Below 99% of UK towns: 0.4% 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
Where 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Chearsley has 71%. Households in flats make up 23% across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 98% of UK towns don’t reach
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. 5.5% of residents were born outside the UK, against 20% across Buckinghamshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns.
32% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 90% 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: 93% of Chearsley · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up 58% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Here, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British.
60% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 98% 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
Compared with 8.7% across England’s towns, 11% of residents give unpaid care here. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%. Across Chearsley, nearly a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
46% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Chearsley’s adults: 46% with a degree-level qualification and 11% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns. Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 15%.
No nearby town is as old as Chearsley
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Chearsley’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Chearsley’s residents
What is the population of Chearsley?
The 2021 Census counted 543 people in Chearsley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chearsley?
The median age was 52.5 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chearsley?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chearsley?
32% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 9% didn’t answer.
Is Chearsley good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chearsley’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). 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.