Photo: Mike Pennington · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 93% of UK towns: half of Basildon is under 36.6
In Basildon, just over a third of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 44% locally. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 41%, fewer than in 89% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the city’s population at 115,935, in 46,983 households.
What the Census says about Basildon’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Basildon’s residents are under 36.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
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.
Since 2011, Basildon has grown +15%, faster than 75% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Basildon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 105,700 people in 2011; 121,200 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 1,980 people. Of the age groups, 30 to 44 changed most (+30%) and 16 to 29 least (±0%).
14% of residents are 65 or over, below 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Basildon, 36.6. 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.
More full-time students than 74% of UK towns: 5.5%
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%.
8.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Basildon households average 2.5 people, larger than in 85% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns: 3.4%. The share of one-person households stands at 29%.
Households in detached houses: 13%, a lower share than 88% of UK towns
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 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Basildon has 23%. The wider picture: 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in flats are more common here than in 89% of UK towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 86% of UK towns: 15%
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
18% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 93% here, fewer than in 85% of UK towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (5.6%) and in Africa (3.8%).
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 87% of UK towns: 77%
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: 77% of Basildon · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (6.6%), African (4.9%) and Mixed or multiple (3%). Compared with other places, residents with no religion are common here: 46%, more than in four fifths of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across England’s towns is 73%. By its share of residents who describe themselves as Christian (44%), Basildon is below 82% of UK towns.
More adults who have never married than 91% of UK towns: 41%
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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.8%, from the figure across England’s towns. Measured more widely, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 3,290.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Basildon counts 23% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 23% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 33 in Laindon Central to 43 in Bursteads
The city’s 14 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bursteads is the oldest area, with 17% aged 65 or over; Laindon Central the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Laindon Central (41% of households).
14th youngest of 63 UK towns of 81,000 to 157,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Salford (29.8) and the oldest Southport (48.4). Nearest to Basildon in age: Rochdale (36.2), Aylesbury (36.4), Crawley (36.9) and Wythenshawe (37.2).
Every nearby town is older than Basildon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basildon | 115,935 | — | 36.6 | 14% | 34% |
| Crays Hill | 1,218 | 2 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 23% |
| North Benfleet | 1,765 | 3 mi | 50.8 | 25% | 25% |
| Wickford | 27,533 | 3.7 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 30% |
| Stanford-le-Hope | 29,527 | 3.7 mi | 41.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Billericay | 34,068 | 4.2 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 30% |
| Runwell | 8,086 | 4.2 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 30% |
| Horndon on the Hill | 1,510 | 4.3 mi | 51 | 27% | 26% |
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.
- “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 Basildon’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. Basildon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 116,160 people in 2021, against 115,935 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 Basildon’s residents
What is the population of Basildon?
The 2021 Census counted 115,935 people in Basildon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 121,200 people in mid-2024, 15% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Basildon?
The median age was 36.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Basildon?
77% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Basildon?
46% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Basildon good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Laindon Central (41% of households). Schools are on Basildon’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.