Priest's House · Photo: Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns: 3.7%
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Doddinghurst comes in at 59%. This Essex town is home to 4,067 residents in 1,598 households, by the 2021 Census. Households in detached houses: 55% of the total. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 62%, more than in 96% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 84% of UK towns grew faster than Doddinghurst: ±0%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Doddinghurst’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,400 people in 2011; 4,400 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+28%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−17%). Mid-2013 to mid-2014 brought the biggest yearly rise, 50 people.
A median age of 49.6: Doddinghurst is older than 83% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Across Doddinghurst, just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 10% here, more than in 62% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Doddinghurst, 49.6. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year: 6.4%, a lower share than 94% 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 work; in Doddinghurst, 40% and 15%. For comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Locally, 4.6% of adults are full-time students.
A lower share of one-person households than 98% of UK towns, at 20%
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.
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Doddinghurst has 28%. There are 2.5 people in the average household. Lower than in 69% of UK towns: 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. The benchmark for one-person households across England’s towns: 30%.
Doddinghurst sits below 98% of UK towns for households without a car or van (5.5%)
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
The figure for households in flats is 3% in Doddinghurst and 23% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 92% of UK towns: 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Born outside the UK: 5% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
A lower share of residents with no religion than 92% of UK towns, at 31%
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 Doddinghurst · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%; Doddinghurst has 93%. By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.6%).
27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 84% 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
For 120 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.1%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 58% of UK towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
28% of Doddinghurst’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
Ranked by age, 138th oldest of 530 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 Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Milford on Sea (64.6). Nearest to Doddinghurst in age: Whaley Bridge (49.6), Cheddleton (49.6), Stamford Bridge (49.7) and Netherton (Kirklees) (49.7).
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than Doddinghurst
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doddinghurst | 4,067 | — | 49.6 | 26% | 28% |
| Kelvedon Hatch | 2,493 | 1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 29% |
| Blackmore | 1,167 | 1.8 mi | 51.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Brentwood | 55,339 | 3.2 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 30% |
| Chipping Ongar | 3,922 | 3.3 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Ingatestone | 5,411 | 3.3 mi | 45.8 | 24% | 27% |
| Shelley | 2,405 | 4 mi | 39.3 | 17% | 37% |
| Ingrave and Herongate | 1,856 | 5.1 mi | 47.8 | 23% | 31% |
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 Doddinghurst’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. Doddinghurst’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,362 people in 2021, against 4,067 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 Doddinghurst’s residents
What is the population of Doddinghurst?
The 2021 Census counted 4,067 people in Doddinghurst’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,400 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Doddinghurst?
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 Doddinghurst?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Doddinghurst?
31% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Doddinghurst good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Doddinghurst’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.