Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents with no religion than 87% of UK towns: 48%
With households in terraced houses at 27%, Halstead is ahead of 76% of UK towns on that count. This Essex town had 13,902 residents in 6,006 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 16% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Half of the town’s residents are under 42.7, younger than in 64% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Halstead’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Halstead at 13,200 in 2011 and 15,900 in 2024, up 20%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 86% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Since 2011, Halstead has grown +20%, faster than 86% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Halstead’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,200 people in 2011; 15,900 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2021 to mid-2022: 400. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+41%) and the 0 to 15 least (+7%).
Halstead sits above 69% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (10%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.4% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 60% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Frinton-on-Sea, the oldest of Essex’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Halstead, 42.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Halstead ranks below 68% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.4%
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%.
30% of Halstead’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
A higher share of shared households of unrelated adults than 58% of UK towns, at 2.5%
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.
Families with dependent children are 28% of households (England’s towns 29%), and 14% are someone 66 or over living alone (Essex’s towns 14%). The share of shared households of unrelated adults across England’s towns is 4.3%. One-person households account for 31%.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 51% of UK towns, at 15%
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
Households in detached houses are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 21%. One household in 7 has no car or van.
Halstead sits below 61% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (5.3%)
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). 98% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 52% of UK towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Below 78% of UK towns: 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Halstead · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Bangladeshi (0.3%). Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Halstead sits higher than 56% of UK towns: 93%.
Halstead: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 63% 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 345 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 45% here, fewer than in 70% of UK towns. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.1%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 22% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 20% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 35 in Hedingham, Gosfield & Greenstead Green to 46 in Halstead East & Colnes
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Halstead East & Colnes is the oldest area, with 25% aged 65 or over; Hedingham, Gosfield & Greenstead Green the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Hedingham, Gosfield & Greenstead Green (33% of households).
124th lowest median age among 360 UK towns of 10,000 to 19,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Halstead in age: Birstall (42.7), Rushall and Shelfield (42.7), Porth (42.7) and Houghton-le-Spring (42.8).
Median age: 5 of the 7 towns around Halstead 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halstead | 13,902 | — | 42.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Gosfield | 1,453 | 1.9 mi | 55.5 | 34% | 21% |
| Earls Colne | 3,360 | 2.7 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 30% |
| Sible Hedingham | 4,261 | 3.2 mi | 41.4 | 21% | 30% |
| Castle Hedingham | 1,045 | 3.7 mi | 52.9 | 32% | 21% |
| Coggeshall | 3,767 | 5.1 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 24% |
| Braintree | 43,179 | 5.4 mi | 40 | 18% | 30% |
| Great Yeldham | 1,824 | 6 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 30% |
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 Halstead’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. Halstead’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,850 people in 2021, against 13,902 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 Halstead’s residents
What is the population of Halstead?
The 2021 Census counted 13,902 people in Halstead’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,900 people in mid-2024, 20% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Halstead?
The median age was 42.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 64% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Halstead?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Halstead?
48% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Halstead good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Hedingham, Gosfield & Greenstead Green (33% of households). Schools are on Halstead’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.