Below 97% of UK towns: 11% of residents are 65 or over
Set against 30% across England’s towns, a fifth of households are one person living alone in Southfields. For Southfields, the census puts households with dependent children at 33%. 5% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. The village is home to 1,167 residents in 447 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Southfields’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Southfields’s residents are under 38.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 11% 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 86% of UK towns: half of Southfields is under 38.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 9.3% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Across Southfields, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
5.4% of adults are full-time students, more than in 73% 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%.
7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, against 11% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.6 people per household, more than in 97% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Southfields comes in at 1.6%.
Below 97% of UK towns: 1.8% 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
Here 50% of households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%. Add to that, 26% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 72% of UK towns. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 12% in Southfields, more than in 81% 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
95% of residents have English as their main language; across England’s towns the figure is 90%. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in Africa (4.2%), then in EU countries (3.8%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 79%, a lower share than 86% 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: 79% of Southfields · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are African (6.1%), Other White (5.3%) and Indian (2.3%). On residents with no religion, Southfields sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 38%. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Southfields has 49%.
Southfields ranks above 74% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 36%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 13 residents. To put it in context, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 8% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. The share of married adults and civil partners is 49%, against 44% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Southfields, 30%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Southfields
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southfields | 1,167 | — | 38.8 | 11% | 33% |
| Orsett | 1,428 | 1 mi | 46.3 | 22% | 29% |
| Horndon on the Hill | 1,510 | 1.4 mi | 51 | 27% | 26% |
| Chadwell St Mary | 10,680 | 1.6 mi | 37.4 | 17% | 38% |
| East Tilbury | 5,751 | 1.9 mi | 33.8 | 11% | 43% |
| Stanford-le-Hope | 29,527 | 2.4 mi | 41.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Grays | 44,340 | 2.9 mi | 37.4 | 14% | 36% |
| Tilbury | 14,187 | 3.1 mi | 32.5 | 9.6% | 44% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Southfields’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 Southfields’s residents
What is the population of Southfields?
The 2021 Census counted 1,167 people in Southfields’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Southfields?
The median age was 38.8 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 11% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Southfields?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Southfields?
38% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 8.1% didn’t answer.
Is Southfields good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Southfields’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.