Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Gloucester is under 39.5, younger than 83% of UK towns
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 77% in Gloucester and 73% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 118,562 residents and 49,744 households in the city. The share of households in flats stands at 19%. On married adults and civil partners, Gloucester sits lower than 80% of UK towns: 43%.
Growth of +13% since 2011 puts Gloucester ahead of 70% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Gloucester’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 109,100 people in 2011; 123,000 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 2,420 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+27%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (+6%).
In Gloucester, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 93% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.2% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 17% here, fewer than in 82% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Gloucester, 39.5. 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.
6.9% of adults are full-time students, more than in 91% 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%.
In Gloucester, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Gloucester households average 2.4 people, larger than in 67% 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.
At 4.1%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 31% in Gloucester. 28% of households have dependent children, a higher share than in 60% of UK towns.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 77% of UK towns: 21%
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
Here 19% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. For Gloucester, the census puts households in detached houses at 20%. One household in 5 has no car or van, the 2nd highest share in Gloucestershire.
Gloucester ranks above 86% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 15%
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
In Gloucester, 92% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (6.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (4.3%).
A lower share of residents with no religion than 63% of UK towns, at 39%
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: 77% of Gloucester · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48%, below 63% of UK towns. Next after White British come Other White (6.9%), Mixed or multiple (3.8%) and Indian (3.7%). Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%.
Above 86% of UK towns: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
Gloucester sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.6%, about the same as across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 2,772 residents.
A degree-level qualification for 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Gloucester counts 27% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 19% have no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 18%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 31 in Quedgeley South to 51 in Hucclecote
The city’s 16 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Hucclecote is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Quedgeley South the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in Quedgeley South (49% of households).
22nd oldest of 58 UK towns of 83,000 to 160,000 people
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 Salford (29.8), the youngest, and Southport (48.4), the oldest. Nearest to Gloucester in age: Gillingham (39.3), Worcester (39.5), Grimsby (39.7) and Wakefield (39.8).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Gloucester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester | 118,562 | — | 39.5 | 17% | 28% |
| Upton St Leonards | 1,132 | 1.8 mi | 55.5 | 36% | 19% |
| Longford | 2,536 | 2.2 mi | 33.7 | 10% | 36% |
| Brockworth | 12,007 | 2.9 mi | 35.6 | 14% | 34% |
| Churchdown | 13,480 | 2.9 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Quedgeley and Hardwicke | 21,125 | 3.2 mi | 35.9 | 12% | 34% |
| Highnam | 1,920 | 3.5 mi | 48.3 | 30% | 30% |
| Shurdington | 1,888 | 4.9 mi | 48.9 | 29% | 26% |
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 Gloucester’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. Gloucester’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 117,196 people in 2021, against 118,562 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 Gloucester’s residents
What is the population of Gloucester?
The 2021 Census counted 118,562 people in Gloucester’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 123,000 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Gloucester?
The median age was 39.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 83% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gloucester?
77% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gloucester?
39% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 5.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Gloucester good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Quedgeley South (49% of households). Schools are on Gloucester’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.