Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0Marlow sits above 81% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (29%)
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 83% in Marlow and 73% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 8.8%, fewer than in four fifths of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 14,641 residents here, living in 6,198 households. Locally, 19% of households live in a flat or apartment.
A +4% change since 2011: slower than 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Marlow’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,300 people in 2011; 14,900 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2018: 190 more people. Change by age ran from +21% for the 65 and over to −18% for the 30 to 44.
Older than 61% of UK towns: half of Marlow is over 45.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
45–49 is the most common age band: 7.8% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in just over three fifths of UK towns. In Princes Risborough, the oldest of Buckinghamshire’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Marlow, 45.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
5% of adults are full-time students, more than in 60% 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%.
9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). Measured more widely, 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.
A larger share of households with dependent children than 80% of UK towns: 31%
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.
At 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.7% in Marlow. Households with dependent children make up 29% across England’s towns.
Fewer car-free households than 71% of UK towns: 12%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Marlow has 28%. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 24% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 84% of UK towns, at 14%
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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 15% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. In Marlow, 95% of residents have English as their main language.
No religion: 39% of residents, a lower share than 62% 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: 83% of Marlow · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 1.5% of residents. Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%).
27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 83% 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
252 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 52%, more than in 72% of UK towns. Marlow sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 7.7%, about the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 46% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
12% of Marlow’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 46% have one at degree level (34%).
Among 384 UK towns of 10,000 to 20,000 people, the 129th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Marlow in age: Pocklington (45.9), Haydock (45.9), Egglescliffe (46) and Mirfield (46).
Marlow is younger than 3 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlow | 14,641 | — | 45.9 | 23% | 31% |
| Marlow Bottom | 3,339 | 1.1 mi | 49.2 | 26% | 33% |
| Cookham | 5,216 | 2.3 mi | 47.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Hurley | 1,317 | 2.6 mi | 40.8 | 13% | 41% |
| Bourne End | 7,166 | 2.8 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 27% |
| Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green | 12,438 | 3.4 mi | 44 | 21% | 30% |
| High Wycombe | 83,541 | 3.9 mi | 35.8 | 12% | 34% |
| Lane End | 3,446 | 4 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 31% |
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 Marlow’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. Marlow’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,767 people in 2021, against 14,641 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 Marlow’s residents
What is the population of Marlow?
The 2021 Census counted 14,641 people in Marlow’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,900 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Marlow?
The median age was 45.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Marlow?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Marlow?
39% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Marlow good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Marlow’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.