Photo: Bogbumper · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 89% of UK towns: half of Gamlingay is over 51
Households without a car or van make up 8.9%, against 24% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census put Gamlingay’s population at 2,920, in 1,293 households. Here, 25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 90% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Gamlingay’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Gamlingay’s residents are under 51 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
More residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Gamlingay comes in at 8.2%. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Gamlingay, 51. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 2.8%, a lower share than 99% 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%.
7.5% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Only 24% of households have dependent children in Gamlingay
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cambridgeshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (2.2%), Gamlingay is below 60% of UK towns. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. There are 2.3 people in the average household. One-person households are rarer here than in 62% of UK towns.
A town of terraces: 30% of households live in one
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
Nearly a third of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 79% of UK towns, at 99%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1%). As a yardstick, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Gamlingay has fewer residents born outside the UK than 68% of UK towns, at 4.7%. Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 14%.
Gamlingay: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 76% 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: 95% of Gamlingay · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.1%). As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Gamlingay comes in at 44%.
55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 88% 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
68 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.3%.
30% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Gamlingay, 30%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
96th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
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 Keele (20.6), the youngest, and West Chiltington (63.1), the oldest. Nearest to Gamlingay in age: Nafferton (50.9), New Marske (51), Yorkley and Whitecroft (51) and Old Basing (51).
Every neighbour of Gamlingay has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamlingay | 2,920 | — | 51 | 30% | 24% |
| Potton | 5,229 | 2 mi | 43 | 20% | 29% |
| Sandy | 11,375 | 4.4 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 30% |
| Biggleswade | 21,945 | 5.2 mi | 37.7 | 15% | 31% |
| Blunham | 1,391 | 5.6 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 30% |
| Upper Caldecote | 1,333 | 5.8 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 26% |
| St Neots | 33,262 | 5.8 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 28% |
| Great Barford | 2,254 | 6.8 mi | 44.7 | 20% | 33% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Cambridgeshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cambridgeshire (or England), summed the same way as Gamlingay’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 Gamlingay’s residents
What is the population of Gamlingay?
The 2021 Census counted 2,920 people in Gamlingay’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gamlingay?
The median age was 51 at the 2021 Census, older than 89% of UK towns. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gamlingay?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 4.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gamlingay?
44% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Gamlingay good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gamlingay’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.