Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Households without a car or van make up 21% in Cinderford, more than in 75% of UK towns
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 33% of households are one person living alone here. Census day 2021: 8,778 residents and 3,927 households in Cinderford. The census found that 44% of residents said they have no religion in the town. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 25% here, fewer than in 72% of UK towns.
A change of +6% since 2011 leaves Cinderford behind 56% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Cinderford’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,500 people in 2011; 9,000 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+25%) and the 16 to 29 least (−10%). Mid-2014 to mid-2015 brought the biggest yearly rise, 190 people.
Cinderford is younger than 54% of UK towns: a median age of 44
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.4% of residents. In Minchinhampton, the oldest of Gloucestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cinderford, 44. 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.
Full-time students make up 4.1% in Cinderford, less than in 80% 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%.
Against a figure of 11% across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year in Cinderford comes in at 7.8%. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 72% 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.
In Cinderford, 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns.
Cinderford ranks below 59% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 26%
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
22% of households live in a terraced house; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. For comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in flats: just over a tenth of the total.
Below 72% of UK towns: 96% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). Elsewhere, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 38% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 63% of UK towns, at 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: 93% of Cinderford · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.5%). By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns and 73% across England’s towns.
Cinderford ranks above 69% 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
43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 288.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 19% of its adults qualified to degree level, Cinderford compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 25% hold no qualification (18%).
Of 482 UK towns its size (6,000 to 12,000 people), the 206th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Cinderford in age: Barnton (44), Atherstone (44), Tring (44) and Lydney (44).
Cinderford is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cinderford | 8,778 | — | 44 | 22% | 25% |
| Ruspidge | 2,431 | 1 mi | 45.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Drybrook | 2,572 | 2.2 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 28% |
| Newnham | 1,054 | 2.5 mi | 53.6 | 32% | 18% |
| Mitcheldean | 2,163 | 3 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 27% |
| Ruardean | 1,195 | 3.2 mi | 52.4 | 29% | 20% |
| Welsh Bicknor | 1,988 | 3.7 mi | 50.2 | 22% | 25% |
| Broadwell and Coalway | 3,304 | 4.5 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 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 Cinderford’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. Cinderford’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,778 people in 2021, against 8,778 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 Cinderford’s residents
What is the population of Cinderford?
The 2021 Census counted 8,778 people in Cinderford’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,000 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Cinderford?
The median age was 44 at the 2021 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cinderford?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 6.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cinderford?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Cinderford good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cinderford’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. 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.