Photo: Peter S · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households without a car or van than 94% of UK towns: 7.3%
With a median age of 48.3, Roydon is older than just over three quarters of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Roydon was home to 1,587 people in 651 households. In Roydon, 3% of households live in a flat or apartment. 23% of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns.
Roydon ranks below 65% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 9.3%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Roydon, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 4.3% in Roydon, less than in 72% of UK towns
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 Roydon, 40% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 17% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
2.5 people per household, more than in 86% 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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 4.5% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 25% of the total.
Households in detached houses: 40%, a higher share than 76% of UK towns
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
In Roydon, 17% of households live in a terraced house, beside 24% across England’s towns. By contrast, 3% of households live in a flat, less than in 93% of UK towns; 40% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
8.6% born outside the UK, more than in 68% 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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 97% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%).
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 72% 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 Roydon · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 51% here and 46% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 38%, fewer than in two thirds of UK towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%. 1.3% of residents said their religion is Muslim.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 83% of UK towns: 54%
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
37 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. On adults who have never married, Roydon sits lower than 64% of UK towns: 30%. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 8.6%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 34%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 34% of adults in Roydon, 34% across England’s towns; 18% have no qualification, against 18%.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Roydon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roydon | 1,587 | — | 48.3 | 22% | 25% |
| Stanstead Abbotts | 3,754 | 2 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 25% |
| Hoddesdon | 40,615 | 2.4 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 33% |
| Lower Nazeing | 3,631 | 2.5 mi | 49.3 | 25% | 25% |
| Harlow | 93,570 | 3 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 34% |
| Great Amwell | 1,017 | 3.2 mi | 50.5 | 23% | 29% |
| Hertford Heath | 2,830 | 3.7 mi | 35.3 | 17% | 31% |
| Ware | 19,631 | 4.4 mi | 41.7 | 18% | 28% |
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 Roydon’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 Roydon’s residents
What is the population of Roydon?
The 2021 Census counted 1,587 people in Roydon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Roydon?
The median age was 48.3 at the 2021 Census. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Roydon?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 8.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Roydon?
38% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Roydon good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Roydon’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.