Photo: Roger May · CC BY-SA 2.0Box is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 53.8
With unpaid carers at 5.9%, Box is behind 99% of UK towns on that count. On households in detached houses, Box sits higher than 97% of UK towns: 62%. The village is home to 307 residents in 122 households, by the 2021 Census. In Box, 3.3% of households have no car or van.
Box: 31% of residents are 65 or over, above 93% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 10%, Box is ahead of 62% of UK towns on that count. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 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.
Box ranks above 94% of UK towns on full-time students: 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%.
By class, 53% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 11% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 9.5%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 17% of households have dependent children in Box
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.
In Box, 22% of households are one person living alone, beside 30% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. There are 2.2 people in the average household. Higher than in 93% of UK towns: 4.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households in flats make up 0.8% in Box, less than in 99% 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
Across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a terraced house; in Box, 11%. As a yardstick, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 13% in Box, more than in 83% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
With residents whose main language is English at 97%, Box is behind 57% of UK towns on that count. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.9%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (3.3%).
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 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: 91% of Box · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (5.2%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Arab (0.7%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than in 56% of UK towns: 91%. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 41% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
More married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns: 66%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%; Box has 20%. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 5 residents.
Degree-level qualifications: 60% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 60% of Box’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 5.6% have no qualification (18%). A levels are as far as 6.4% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
Box sits below 1 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box | 307 | — | 53.8 | 31% | 17% |
| Minchinhampton | 3,412 | 0.8 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 22% |
| Nailsworth | 5,657 | 1 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 24% |
| Amberley | 1,300 | 1.1 mi | 55.9 | 35% | 23% |
| Brimscombe and Thrupp | 2,187 | 1.5 mi | 47.4 | 18% | 30% |
| Avening | 1,054 | 2.1 mi | 49.1 | 23% | 29% |
| Chalford | 6,665 | 2.8 mi | 49.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Stroud | 26,073 | 3.2 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 25% |
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.
- “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 Box’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 Box’s residents
What is the population of Box?
The 2021 Census counted 307 people in Box’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Box?
The median age was 53.8 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Box?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Box?
41% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 9.1% didn’t answer.
Is Box good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Box’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.