Photo: Glyn Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0In Downham, 76% of households live in a detached house, more than in 99% of UK towns
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Downham has 5%. At 23%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 94% of UK towns. The village is home to 359 residents in 136 households, by the 2021 Census. For Downham, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 57%.
Downham is older than 77% of UK towns: a median age of 48.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. The largest age band is 45–49: just over one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Downham ranks below 93% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 6.5%
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%.
In Downham, nearly two in five adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 13% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Full-time students are rarer here than in 70% of UK towns. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
2.5 people per household, more than in 91% 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.
At 3.7%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 27% of the total.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns, at 3.6%
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
Flats are home to 5.8% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Below 55% of UK towns: 5.9% of residents were born outside the UK
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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.2%) and in Africa (1.7%). Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 50% of UK towns: 98%.
36% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 79% 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 Downham · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.2%), African (0.8%) and Indian (0.3%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 55% of UK towns.
58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 96% 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
Here just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Locally, 26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
23% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Downham’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%).
A younger town than 2 of the 7 around it: Downham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downham | 359 | — | 48.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Ramsden Heath | 1,949 | 0.8 mi | 46.5 | 22% | 33% |
| Runwell | 8,086 | 1.6 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 30% |
| Wickford | 27,533 | 2.5 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 30% |
| Crays Hill | 1,218 | 2.7 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 23% |
| Stock | 1,573 | 2.7 mi | 56.5 | 36% | 21% |
| Billericay | 34,068 | 3.1 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 30% |
| Galleywood | 6,410 | 4.2 mi | 47.2 | 26% | 25% |
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 Downham’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 Downham’s residents
What is the population of Downham?
The 2021 Census counted 359 people in Downham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Downham?
The median age was 48.6 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Downham?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Downham?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Downham good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Downham’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.