Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0Highfields Caldecote ranks above 98% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 41%
The share of one-person households is 20%, against 30% across England’s towns. In Highfields Caldecote, 61% of households live in a detached house. The village has fewer households in flats than 92% of UK towns, at 3.2%. There were 751 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 2,049 residents.
What the Census says about Highfields Caldecote’s people
A village of families
41% of Highfields Caldecote’s 751 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 98% of UK towns. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 15% in Highfields Caldecote, less than in 91% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Locally, 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The median age in Highfields Caldecote is 41.6, lower than in 71% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Highfields Caldecote ranks above 93% of UK towns on full-time students: 7.5%
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%.
In Highfields Caldecote, 48% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 9.8%, more than in 71% of UK towns. On average, 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.
2.7 people per household, more than in 98% of UK towns
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.
The census found that 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Highfields Caldecote.
Highfields Caldecote sits below 98% of UK towns for households without a car or van (5.6%)
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
Just over one in ten households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. In one household in 18 there is no car or van.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 86% of UK towns: 93%
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 EU countries (6.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5.7%). For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%. At 17%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 89% of UK towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 15% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
In Highfields Caldecote, 78% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 87% 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: 78% of Highfields Caldecote · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
43% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. Here, 44% of residents said they have no religion.
Married adults and civil partners: 58%, a higher share than 95% 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
29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. For Highfields Caldecote, the census puts unpaid carers at 8%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 51%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 51% of Highfields Caldecote’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 8.6% have no qualification (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 16%.
Highfields Caldecote is younger than 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highfields Caldecote | 2,049 | — | 41.6 | 15% | 41% |
| Hardwick | 2,658 | 1.3 mi | 44.1 | 18% | 29% |
| Cambourne | 11,071 | 1.8 mi | 34.5 | 5.4% | 52% |
| Comberton | 2,255 | 2.5 mi | 47.8 | 25% | 29% |
| Bar Hill | 3,899 | 3.5 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 25% |
| Girton | 4,384 | 4.8 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 28% |
| Papworth Everard | 3,821 | 4.9 mi | 38.1 | 10% | 37% |
| Haslingfield | 1,535 | 5.1 mi | 47 | 23% | 30% |
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.
- “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 Highfields Caldecote’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 Highfields Caldecote’s residents
What is the population of Highfields Caldecote?
The 2021 Census counted 2,049 people in Highfields Caldecote’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Highfields Caldecote?
The median age was 41.6 at the 2021 Census. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Highfields Caldecote?
78% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Highfields Caldecote?
44% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Highfields Caldecote good for families?
41% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Highfields Caldecote’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.