Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 95% of UK towns: half of Cambridge is over 54
Across England’s towns, 24% of households have no car or van; in Cambridge, 5.4%. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 23% here, fewer than in 98% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 464 people lived locally, in 204 households. Locally, 52% of households live in a detached house.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of UK towns: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 9.7% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 8%.
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.
Below 99% of UK towns: 3.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 37% of Cambridge’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 22%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Against that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. On the census count, 3.8% of adults are full-time students.
Cambridge ranks below 92% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 21%
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.
One-person households make up 26%, against 30% across England’s towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. On average, 2.2 people share a household.
Households in flats make up 2.9% in Cambridge, less than in 93% 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
15% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Households in flats make up 23% across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 100% in Cambridge, more than in 99% 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
3.2% of residents were born outside the UK, against 10% across Gloucestershire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%).
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 87% 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: 96% of Cambridge · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 37% across England’s towns, just over two in five residents said they have no religion in Cambridge. The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.8%), Caribbean (0.4%) and Indian (0.2%). Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Cambridge sits above 96% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (58%)
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
Where 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, Cambridge has 12%. For married adults and civil partners, the comparison across England’s towns is 44%. 11 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 32%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 32% of adults in Cambridge (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 17% (England’s towns: 18%).
The towns around Cambridge are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | 464 | — | 54 | 31% | 21% |
| Cam | 7,730 | 2.1 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 24% |
| Eastington | 1,218 | 2.1 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Frampton on Severn | 1,069 | 3.1 mi | 50.3 | 29% | 31% |
| Dursley | 7,935 | 3.2 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 29% |
| Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley | 3,584 | 3.7 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Stonehouse | 8,302 | 3.7 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 25% |
| Sharpness | 1,237 | 4.6 mi | 39.9 | 17% | 30% |
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 Cambridge’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 Cambridge’s residents
What is the population of Cambridge?
The 2021 Census counted 464 people in Cambridge’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cambridge?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cambridge?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cambridge?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Cambridge good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cambridge’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.