Photo: David Kemp · CC BY-SA 2.0Residents with no religion: 45%, a higher share than 77% of UK towns
24% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). On households in flats, Maldon sits higher than 64% of UK towns: 14%. The 2021 Census counted 23,389 residents in 10,140 households. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 47% in the town.
Maldon grew +12% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Maldon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 21,300 people in 2011; 23,800 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+40%), the 0 to 15 group the smallest (+2%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2021: 540 more people.
Maldon is older than 63% of UK towns: a median age of 46.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.5% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in just over three fifths of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Maldon, 46.2. 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.
Maldon ranks below 77% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.2%
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 9.3%, against 11% across England’s towns. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Only 26% of households in Maldon have dependent children
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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Across Maldon, 30% of households are one person living alone.
22% of households live in a terraced house, a share 56% of UK towns don’t reach
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 census found that 15% of households have no car or van in Maldon. 14% of households live in a flat, more than in 64% of UK towns; 29% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
5.4% born outside the UK, fewer than in 61% of UK towns
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 figure for residents whose main language is English is 98% in Maldon and 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
In Maldon, 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 64% 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 Maldon · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93%, against 73% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Bangladeshi (0.5%).
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 51% of UK towns: 32%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 631. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.6%, about the same as across England’s towns.
26% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
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 Maldon, 20%, while 26% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 42 in Heybridge to 49 in Maldon South
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.
Maldon South is the oldest area, with 25% aged 65 or over; Heybridge the youngest (median age 42). Families with children are most common in Heybridge (31% of households).
56th highest median age among 283 UK towns of 16,000 to 32,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bangor (26.4), the youngest, and Brixham (55.6), the oldest. Nearest to Maldon in age: Devizes (46.1), Penrith (46.2), Littlehampton (46.2) and Leek (46.3).
A younger town than 6 of the 7 around it: Maldon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maldon | 23,389 | — | 46.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Great Totham | 2,773 | 3.1 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 29% |
| Wickham Bishops | 1,923 | 3.4 mi | 53.4 | 33% | 25% |
| Cold Norton | 1,161 | 4.2 mi | 51 | 24% | 27% |
| Danbury | 6,196 | 4.4 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 28% |
| Latchingdon | 1,140 | 4.5 mi | 41.6 | 15% | 35% |
| Mayland | 3,740 | 4.6 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 26% |
| Hatfield Peverel | 3,622 | 4.6 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 24% |
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 Maldon’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. Maldon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 22,738 people in 2021, against 23,389 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 Maldon’s residents
What is the population of Maldon?
The 2021 Census counted 23,389 people in Maldon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 23,800 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Maldon?
The median age was 46.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 63% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Maldon?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Maldon?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Maldon good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Heybridge (31% of households). Schools are on Maldon’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.