Photo: Ray Bird · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 5%
Households in Charfield hold 2.5 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). At the 2021 Census, 2,833 people lived in the town, in 1,127 households. Locally, 20% of households are one person living alone. 11% of households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 87% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Charfield’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Charfield is younger than 67% of UK towns: a median age of 42.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 17%, fewer than in just over four fifths of UK towns. In Minchinhampton, the oldest of Gloucestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Charfield, 42.3. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Only 6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Charfield
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, 44% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The share of full-time students stands at 5.5%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
34% of households have dependent children, more than in 92% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.1%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Households in detached houses: 47%, a higher share than 87% 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
6.2% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%.
Above 80% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 73% of UK towns: 4.3%. 15% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
Charfield sits above 89% of UK towns for residents with no religion (48%)
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: 95% of Charfield · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.5%). At 95%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in 80% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%.
In Charfield, 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 89% of UK towns
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
47 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Charfield has fewer adults who have never married than 67% of UK towns, at 30%. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 7.9%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
38% of Charfield’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 9.7% have none (18%).
94th youngest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Charfield in age: Boreham (42.2), South Hetton (42.3), Theale (42.3) and Rudloe (42.3).
Every nearby town is older than Charfield
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charfield | 2,833 | — | 42.3 | 17% | 34% |
| Kingswood | 1,409 | 1.5 mi | 43.6 | 18% | 36% |
| Wickwar | 1,701 | 2.3 mi | 44.7 | 16% | 35% |
| Wotton-under-Edge | 4,966 | 2.3 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 25% |
| Dursley | 7,935 | 4.5 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 29% |
| Hawkesbury Upton | 1,001 | 4.8 mi | 48.1 | 23% | 31% |
| Thornbury | 14,483 | 5 mi | 43.5 | 23% | 29% |
| Berkeley | 2,250 | 5.2 mi | 46 | 24% | 24% |
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 Charfield’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 Charfield’s residents
What is the population of Charfield?
The 2021 Census counted 2,833 people in Charfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Charfield?
The median age was 42.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 67% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Charfield?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Charfield?
48% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Charfield good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Charfield’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.