Photo: Cruccone · CC BY 3.0More family households than 94% of UK towns: 36% in Elsenham
Households without a car or van: 7.4% here and 24% across England’s towns. Across Elsenham, 43% of households live in a detached house. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 51%, more than in 71% of UK towns. This Essex town is home to 3,414 residents in 1,369 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Elsenham’s people
A town of families
36% of Elsenham’s 1,369 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 94% of UK towns. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Elsenham’s residents are under 38.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 8.4% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Younger than 87% of UK towns: half of Elsenham is under 38.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. At 8.4%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 88% of UK towns. The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 16% in Elsenham and 18% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Elsenham, 38.6. 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.
Elsenham sits below 75% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7.5%)
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%.
Full-time students: 4.4%, below 67% of UK towns. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Elsenham sits below 94% of UK towns for one-person households (23%)
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 2.5 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Across Elsenham, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Fewer households in flats than 78% of UK towns: 6.1%
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
15% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. The share of households in flats across England’s towns is 23%.
More residents born abroad than 62% of UK towns: 7.6% in Elsenham
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.3%) and in Africa (1.4%). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The share of residents whose main language is English is 97%, against 90% across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 70% of UK towns, at 88%
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: 88% of Elsenham · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (6.5%), Mixed or multiple (2.4%) and Indian (0.6%). Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. More residents with no religion than in 67% of UK towns: 43%. 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%.
8% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 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
69 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%. The share of adults who have never married is 32%, against 39% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of Elsenham’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have no qualification (18%).
63rd lowest median age among 749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000
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 Elsenham in age: Feltwell (38.5), Marden (38.5), Edwalton (38.7) and Locking (38.7).
Elsenham and its 7 nearest towns: 6 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elsenham | 3,414 | — | 38.6 | 16% | 36% |
| Henham | 1,046 | 1.3 mi | 48.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Stansted Mountfitchet | 8,629 | 1.6 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 34% |
| Takeley and Little Canfield | 5,553 | 4 mi | 38.4 | 14% | 39% |
| Bishop's Stortford | 40,916 | 4.5 mi | 40.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Newport | 2,945 | 4.7 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 32% |
| Thaxted | 3,111 | 5.8 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Little Hallingbury | 1,434 | 5.9 mi | 47.1 | 22% | 34% |
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 Elsenham’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 Elsenham’s residents
What is the population of Elsenham?
The 2021 Census counted 3,414 people in Elsenham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Elsenham?
The median age was 38.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 87% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Elsenham?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Elsenham?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Elsenham good for families?
36% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Elsenham’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.