Photo: Glyn Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Braintree is under 40, younger than 80% of UK towns
20% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. In 2021, the Census found 43,179 residents in Braintree, living in 18,059 households. For Braintree, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 86%. Adults who have never married are more common here than in nearly three quarters of UK towns.
What the Census says about Braintree’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
A +8% change since 2011: Braintree grew faster than 53% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Braintree’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 42,600 people in 2011; 46,100 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+37%) and 16 to 29 least (−11%). Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 720 people.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Little separates the share of residents aged 65 and over here, 18%, from the figure across England’s towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Braintree, 40. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 4.7% of adults are full-time students in Braintree
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year tops 66% of UK towns: 9.5%. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
Larger households than 72% of UK towns: 2.4 people 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.
30% of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%. Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.1% of the total.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 62% of UK towns, at 18%
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
On households in terraced houses, 24% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 72% of UK towns. About one household in 6 lives without a car or van.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 76% of UK towns: 10%
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
Here 95% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (5.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%).
No religion: 47% of residents, a higher share than 86% 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: 86% of Braintree · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 1.1% of residents. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 80% of UK towns.
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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, 8.3%, from the figure across England’s towns. For 1,033 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 73% of UK towns: 44%.
23% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 23% of its adults qualified to degree level, Braintree compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 20% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Silver End & Stisted to 46 in Great Notley & Black Notley
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Great Notley & Black Notley is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Silver End & Stisted the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Silver End & Stisted (38% of households).
Ranked by age, 53rd youngest of 165 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Braintree in age: Epsom (39.6), Brierley Hill (39.8), Dover (40) and Yeovil (40).
5 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Braintree
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braintree | 43,179 | — | 40 | 18% | 30% |
| Great Notley | 7,659 | 1.9 mi | 41.6 | 16% | 38% |
| Tye Green | 1,415 | 1.9 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 26% |
| Black Notley | 1,932 | 2 mi | 42.5 | 17% | 35% |
| Rayne | 2,169 | 2.2 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Silver End | 3,913 | 3.4 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 33% |
| Gosfield | 1,453 | 4.1 mi | 55.5 | 34% | 21% |
| Great Leighs | 2,968 | 4.2 mi | 38.9 | 15% | 40% |
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 Braintree’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. Braintree’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 44,148 people in 2021, against 43,179 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 Braintree’s residents
What is the population of Braintree?
The 2021 Census counted 43,179 people in Braintree’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 46,100 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Braintree?
The median age was 40 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Braintree?
86% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Braintree?
47% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Braintree good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Silver End & Stisted (38% of households). Schools are on Braintree’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.