Photo: R J Noble · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 4%
One-person households: 22%, below 94% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Ashdon’s population at 243, in 98 households. Census figures put households in flats at 1% in the village. Half of the village’s residents are over 50.1, older than in 85% of UK towns.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.1% in Ashdon, less than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 13% of residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Frinton-on-Sea, the oldest of Essex’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
In Ashdon, 4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 83% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Ashdon, 34% and 25%. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Ashdon households average 2.4 people, larger than in 76% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Essex’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 2% in Ashdon and 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children account for 31%.
Only 11% of households live in a terraced house in Ashdon
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 a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, against 33% in Ashdon. As a yardstick, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 64% of UK towns: 5%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English make up 98%, against 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
Ashdon ranks above 78% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%
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 Ashdon · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
42% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: just over half of the total.
5.9% of residents give unpaid care, below 99% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 6. More married adults and civil partners than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 53%. The share of unpaid carers across England’s towns is 8.7%. 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 31%
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 Ashdon, 31%, and 17% have none, against 18%.
Of the 7 towns nearest Ashdon, 1 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashdon | 243 | — | 50.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Linton | 4,452 | 3.1 mi | 46.7 | 25% | 28% |
| Saffron Walden | 16,609 | 3.9 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Great Chesterford | 1,775 | 4.9 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 35% |
| Balsham | 1,625 | 5.1 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Haverhill | 26,704 | 5.4 mi | 39.2 | 16% | 32% |
| Steeple Bumpstead | 1,376 | 5.7 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 25% |
| Newport | 2,945 | 6.7 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 32% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Essex’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Essex (or England), summed the same way as Ashdon’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 Ashdon’s residents
What is the population of Ashdon?
The 2021 Census counted 243 people in Ashdon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ashdon?
The median age was 50.1 at the 2021 Census. 7.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashdon?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashdon?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Ashdon good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ashdon’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.