Photo: PaleCloudedWhite · CC BY-SA 4.0Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.6%, a lower share than 87% of UK towns
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Across Olney, 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. At 41%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in 77% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 6,600 residents in 2,861 households.
Faster growth than 61% of UK towns: Olney changed by +10% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Olney’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,100 people in 2011; 7,800 in 2024.
Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 210 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+59%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−15%).
Olney is older than 72% of UK towns: a median age of 47.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 25%, more than in 69% 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+
■ Olney, 47.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% in Olney, more than in 84% 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%.
The share of full-time students is 4.9%, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Managerial and professional jobs account for 48% of Olney’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 16%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns.
A larger share of households with dependent children than 59% of UK towns: 28%
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 Olney hold 2.3 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Set beside that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Locally, 30% of households are one person living alone.
Olney sits below 67% of UK towns for households in flats (7.9%)
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, a quarter of households live in a terraced house in Olney. The benchmark for households in flats across England’s towns: 23%. Census figures put households without a car or van at 13% locally.
Olney ranks above 69% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 8.9%
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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.9%) and in Africa (2.1%). Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 98% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%).
90% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 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: 90% of Olney · Buckinghamshire’s towns 68% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
42% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (5.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and African (0.9%).
Fewer adults who have never married than 80% of UK towns: 28%
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
117 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Fewer unpaid carers than in 78% of UK towns: 8.3%. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Degree-level qualifications reach 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 44% of its adults qualified to degree level, Olney compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 13% hold no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 153rd oldest of 473 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Red Lodge is the youngest (30.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Olney in age: Wem (47.6), Harleston (47.6), Cookham (47.6) and South Molton (47.6).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Olney
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
- “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 Olney’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. Olney’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,216 people in 2021, against 6,600 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 Olney’s residents
What is the population of Olney?
The 2021 Census counted 6,600 people in Olney’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,800 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Olney?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Olney?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 68% across Buckinghamshire’s towns. 8.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Olney?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Olney good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Olney’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.