Songers · Photo: Hjamesberglen · CC0A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 99% of UK towns: 2.2%
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 8% of residents, against 12% across England’s towns. Meanwhile, at 49%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in 89% of UK towns. Boxted Cross is home to 726 residents in 312 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
A median age of 48.5: Boxted Cross is older than 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Boxted Cross.
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 make up 4.2% in Boxted Cross, less than in 77% 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%.
By class, 35% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%. Residents who moved in within the year account for 8%.
27% of households are one person living alone, below 74% 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.
In Boxted Cross the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. At 25%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 69% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. 4.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Below 72% of UK towns: 12% of households have no car or van
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
Set against 23% across England’s towns, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment in Boxted Cross. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 98% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 5.4% of residents were born outside the UK here. The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Boxted Cross: 52% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 67% 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: 93% of Boxted Cross · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Pakistani (0.7%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 93%, more than in just over three fifths of UK towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 40% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 77% 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
20 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Fewer unpaid carers than in four fifths of UK towns: 8.2%. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
16% of Boxted Cross’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 30% have one at degree level (34%).
Boxted Cross sits below 2 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxted Cross | 726 | — | 48.5 | 23% | 25% |
| Great Horkesley | 2,232 | 2.5 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 35% |
| Ardleigh | 1,042 | 3.6 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 26% |
| West Bergholt | 3,175 | 3.9 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 28% |
| Colchester | 130,259 | 4.5 mi | 35.9 | 15% | 31% |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 4.7 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 25% |
| Eight Ash Green | 1,769 | 5.7 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 27% |
| Lawford | 4,488 | 5.8 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 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 Boxted Cross’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 Boxted Cross’s residents
What is the population of Boxted Cross?
The 2021 Census counted 726 people in Boxted Cross’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Boxted Cross?
The median age was 48.5 at the 2021 Census. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Boxted Cross?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Boxted Cross?
40% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.8% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Boxted Cross good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Boxted Cross’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.