Photo: Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0Hullbridge is older than 92% of UK towns: a median age of 52.2
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 26% of households are one person living alone here. In 2021, the Census found 5,709 residents in Hullbridge, living in 2,448 households. 4.6% of households live in a terraced house. Fewer households with dependent children than in 86% of UK towns: 23%.
What the Census says about Hullbridge’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Hullbridge’s residents are under 52.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Hullbridge ranks above 93% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with 9.2% of residents, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9.3%, fewer than in 65% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hullbridge, 52.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 90% of UK towns: 3.8%
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 Hullbridge, 31% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are rarer here than in two thirds of UK towns.
Hullbridge households average 2.3 people, larger than in 61% 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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 2.5% in Hullbridge.
Below 82% of UK towns: 5.2% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
Just over one in ten households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Hullbridge has more households in detached houses than nearly two thirds of UK towns, at 35%. By way of comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Only 2.8% of residents were born outside the UK in Hullbridge
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in 97% of UK towns. Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 3.7% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 96%, a higher share than 87% 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: 96% of Hullbridge · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 43%, against 37% across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.3%). Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Only 26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Hullbridge
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
55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 144 people. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 8.7%, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
19% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Hullbridge, 25%, while 19% hold one at degree level (34%).
Of 624 UK towns its size (4,000 to 8,000 people), the 66th oldest
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 Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Hullbridge in age: Wirksworth (52.2), Gnosall (52.2), Withernsea (52.3) and Headley Down and Headley (52.3).
Every nearby town is younger than Hullbridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hullbridge | 5,709 | — | 52.2 | 31% | 23% |
| South Woodham Ferrers | 16,029 | 1.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Rayleigh | 32,383 | 2.3 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 29% |
| Hockley and Hawkwell | 15,430 | 2.3 mi | 47 | 24% | 28% |
| Ashingdon | 6,490 | 3.5 mi | 49.6 | 26% | 26% |
| Wickford | 27,533 | 3.9 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 30% |
| Runwell | 8,086 | 4 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 30% |
| Cold Norton | 1,161 | 4.1 mi | 51 | 24% | 27% |
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 Hullbridge’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 Hullbridge’s residents
What is the population of Hullbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 5,709 people in Hullbridge’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hullbridge?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hullbridge?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 2.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hullbridge?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Hullbridge good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hullbridge’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.