Photo: Robert Eva · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 83% of UK towns: 32% of households have dependent children
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 42%, against 46% across England’s towns. Half of Chesham’s residents are under 41.1, younger than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 23,691 people lived locally, in 9,609 households. Here, 19% of households live in a detached house.
A +12% change since 2011: Chesham grew faster than 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chesham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 21,500 people in 2011; 24,000 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2014 to mid-2015, up 420 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+18%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (+4%).
Chesham: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over are about as common here as across England’s towns: 18%. No age band is larger than 40–44: 7.5% of residents. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chesham, 41.1. 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.
A larger share of full-time students than 75% of UK towns: 5.5%
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%.
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% 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.
Here 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. 29% of households are one person living alone.
A higher share of households in terraced houses than 73% of UK towns, at 26%
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 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Chesham has 17%. Here, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Only 92% of residents have English as their main language in Chesham
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
The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (6.6%) and in EU countries (6.3%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are common here: 17%, more than in 89% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 15% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Below 92% of UK towns: 71% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 71% of Chesham · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
9.9% of residents are Muslim. Chesham has fewer residents with no religion than 73% of UK towns, at 37%.
Adults who have never married make up 34% in Chesham, more than in 62% 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
Unpaid carers: 8.4%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. Here, nearly half of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
39% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Chesham counts 39% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 16% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in Chesham South to 52 in Hyde Heath, Bellingdon & Latimer
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Hyde Heath, Bellingdon & Latimer is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Chesham South the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Chesham West (35% of households).
Among 248 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people, the 75th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 55.6 in Brixham. Nearest to Chesham in age: Stalybridge (41.1), Litherland (41.1), Thatcham (41.1) and Stanford-le-Hope (41.2).
No nearby town is as young as Chesham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesham | 23,691 | — | 41.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Hyde Heath | 1,048 | 2.2 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 32% |
| Amersham | 17,377 | 2.4 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 34% |
| South Heath | 1,278 | 3.2 mi | 48.6 | 22% | 33% |
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | 3.4 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 3.6 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 38% |
| Berkhamsted | 21,236 | 3.9 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 32% |
| Little Kingshill | 1,471 | 4.1 mi | 47.2 | 20% | 38% |
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 Chesham’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. Chesham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,092 people in 2021, against 23,691 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 Chesham’s residents
What is the population of Chesham?
The 2021 Census counted 23,691 people in Chesham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,000 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chesham?
The median age was 41.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chesham?
71% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chesham?
37% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 9.9% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Chesham good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Chesham West (35% of households). Schools are on Chesham’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.