Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 93% of UK towns: 1.4%
In Bishop's Cleeve, just over one in ten households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. This Gloucestershire town counted 16,323 residents and 7,086 households at the 2021 Census. Households in detached houses account for 36%. Half of the town’s residents are under 41.9, younger than in 70% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Bishop's Cleeve’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Bishop's Cleeve at 12,700 in 2011 and 17,200 in 2024, up 35%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 95% 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.
A +35% change since 2011: Bishop's Cleeve grew faster than 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bishop's Cleeve’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,700 people in 2011; 17,200 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2019: 620 more people. The 0 to 15 age group moved most (+46%); the 45 to 64 group moved least (+26%).
Bishop's Cleeve ranks below 77% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.9%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.2% of residents. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Compared with 18% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over here.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bishop's Cleeve, 41.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 69% of UK towns: 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%.
By class, 42% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year account for 8.7%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 30% in Bishop's Cleeve, more than in 75% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gloucestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%.
7.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 70% 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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, against 18% in Bishop's Cleeve. Across England’s towns, households in flats come to 23%.
Bishop's Cleeve: 7.8% of residents were born outside the UK, above 63% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Bishop's Cleeve sits lower than just over three fifths of UK towns: 97%. Of residents born abroad, 10% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Bishop's Cleeve ranks above 64% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 43%
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: 90% of Bishop's Cleeve · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (4.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (1.8%). Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 61% of UK towns. What’s more, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 49% in Bishop's Cleeve.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 67% of UK towns, at 51%
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
Some 323 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 89% of UK towns. Compared with 39% across England’s towns, 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here.
Degree-level qualifications reach 39% 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 Bishop's Cleeve, 39%, and 12% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 36 in Bishop's Cleeve West & North to 59 in Cleeve Hill, Gotherington & Apperley
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.
Cleeve Hill, Gotherington & Apperley is the oldest area, with 39% aged 65 or over; Bishop's Cleeve West & North the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Bishop's Cleeve West & North (36% of households).
Of 380 UK towns its size (11,000 to 22,000 people), the 107th youngest
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Bishop's Cleeve in age: Uttoxeter (41.9), Sandy (41.9), Street (41.9) and Stanley (42).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Bishop's Cleeve
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop's Cleeve | 16,323 | — | 41.9 | 21% | 30% |
| Gotherington | 1,131 | 1.1 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 27% |
| Prestbury | 4,078 | 2.6 mi | 51.1 | 31% | 23% |
| Cheltenham | 115,941 | 3.7 mi | 40.1 | 19% | 25% |
| Ashchurch | 1,102 | 3.9 mi | 38.7 | 19% | 29% |
| Winchcombe | 4,339 | 3.9 mi | 52.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Tewkesbury | 14,387 | 4.5 mi | 44 | 21% | 26% |
| Northway | 4,858 | 4.5 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Gloucestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gloucestershire (or England), summed the same way as Bishop's Cleeve’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. Bishop's Cleeve’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,035 people in 2021, against 16,323 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 Bishop's Cleeve’s residents
What is the population of Bishop's Cleeve?
The 2021 Census counted 16,323 people in Bishop's Cleeve’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 17,200 people in mid-2024, 35% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bishop's Cleeve?
The median age was 41.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 8.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bishop's Cleeve?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bishop's Cleeve?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bishop's Cleeve good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Bishop's Cleeve West & North (36% of households). Schools are on Bishop's Cleeve’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.