Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 4.2%
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 3.5% of households live in a terraced house here. Broadley Common is home to 390 residents in 143 households, by the 2021 Census. For Broadley Common, the census puts one-person households at 20%. Lower than in 90% of UK towns: 32% of residents said they have no religion.
Older than 74% of UK towns: half of Broadley Common is over 48
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Here, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Lower than in 70% of UK towns: 19% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 3% in Broadley Common, less than in 99% 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 or semi-routine work; Broadley Common has 31% and 21%. The village has more residents who moved in within the year than 84% of UK towns, at 11%. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.7 people per household, more than in 98% 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.
Here 5.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. At the same time, 24% of households have dependent children, a lower share than in 77% of UK towns.
More detached houses than 88% of UK towns: 49% of households
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
Here 5.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. Across the comparison, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 15% in Broadley Common, more than in 86% of UK towns
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
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Broadley Common comes in at 92%. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (9.3%), then in the rest of Europe (3.4%).
A lower White British share than 87% of UK towns: 77% of residents
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 Broadley Common · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 55% in Broadley Common and 46% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. 1.5% of residents said their religion is Muslim.
Broadley Common sits below 97% of UK towns for unpaid carers (6.9%)
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 10. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 69% of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 19%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 19% of adults in Broadley Common (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 28% (England’s towns: 18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Broadley Common, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadley Common | 390 | — | 48 | 19% | 24% |
| Roydon | 1,587 | 1.7 mi | 48.3 | 22% | 25% |
| Lower Nazeing | 3,631 | 2.2 mi | 49.3 | 25% | 25% |
| Harlow | 93,570 | 2.4 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 34% |
| Hoddesdon | 40,615 | 3.2 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 33% |
| Thornwood Common | 1,030 | 3.6 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Stanstead Abbotts | 3,754 | 3.7 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 25% |
| Epping | 10,693 | 4.1 mi | 42.6 | 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 Broadley Common’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 Broadley Common’s residents
What is the population of Broadley Common?
The 2021 Census counted 390 people in Broadley Common’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Broadley Common?
The median age was 48 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Broadley Common?
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 Broadley Common?
32% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 8% didn’t answer.
Is Broadley Common good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Broadley Common’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.