Photo: Lonpicman · CC BY-SA 3.06% of households live in a terraced house, below 97% of UK towns
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 55% in Ashingdon and 44% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 6,490 residents and 2,661 households locally. 46% of households live in a detached house. Fewer one-person households than in 91% of UK towns: 24%.
What the Census says about Ashingdon’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Ashingdon at 6,700 in 2011 and 6,400 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 95% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
−4% since 2011, a pace below 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ashingdon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,700 people in 2011; 6,400 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +44% for the 65 and over to −20% for the 30 to 44.
Ashingdon is older than 83% of UK towns: a median age of 49.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 10% here and 12% across England’s towns. Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ashingdon, 49.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 97% of UK towns: 6%
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%.
35% of Ashingdon’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, full-time students are scarce here: 4.4%, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. To put it in context, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Bigger households than 83% of UK towns: 2.4 people each on average
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.
Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Ashingdon, 2.9%. Households with dependent children: 26% of the total.
Fewer car-free households than 82% of UK towns: 10%
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Ashingdon has 5.5%. The usual figure: 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 86% of UK towns, at 3.4%
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
Set against 90% across England’s towns, 99% of residents have English as their main language in Ashingdon. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 74% of UK towns, at 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 Ashingdon · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.4%). Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. Ashingdon has more residents with no religion than 57% of UK towns, at 42%. 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 84% of UK towns, at 27%
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
178 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Ashingdon has fewer unpaid carers than 57% of UK towns, at 9.1%. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%.
Qualified to degree level: 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 22% of adults in Ashingdon (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 19% (England’s towns: 18%).
Ranked by age, 95th 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.
The youngest is Red Lodge (30.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Ashingdon in age: Llandrindod Wells (49.5), Chalford (49.6), Crewkerne (49.6) and Whitburn (49.7).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Ashingdon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashingdon | 6,490 | — | 49.6 | 26% | 26% |
| Rochford | 12,617 | 1.3 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 28% |
| Hockley and Hawkwell | 15,430 | 1.4 mi | 47 | 24% | 28% |
| Canewdon | 1,216 | 2.5 mi | 37.8 | 17% | 38% |
| Hullbridge | 5,709 | 3.5 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 23% |
| Rayleigh | 32,383 | 3.7 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 29% |
| Southend-on-Sea | 182,295 | 3.9 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 28% |
| South Woodham Ferrers | 16,029 | 4.4 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
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 Ashingdon’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. Ashingdon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,336 people in 2021, against 6,490 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 Ashingdon’s residents
What is the population of Ashingdon?
The 2021 Census counted 6,490 people in Ashingdon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,400 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ashingdon?
The median age was 49.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 83% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashingdon?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashingdon?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Ashingdon good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ashingdon’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.