Photo: My another account · CC0Younger than 96% of UK towns: half of Patchway is under 35.1
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Patchway comes in at 29%. This Gloucestershire town is home to 16,517 residents in 6,799 households, by the 2021 Census. For Patchway, the census puts households with dependent children at 33%. Fewer one-person households than in 76% of UK towns: 27%.
What the Census says about Patchway’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Patchway’s residents are under 35.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Gloucestershire
21% of residents were born outside the UK, against 10% across Gloucestershire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (10%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5.4%). Where people were born ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Patchway at 10,500 in 2011 and 17,100 in 2024, up 63%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 98% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A growing town: +63% since 2011, faster than 98% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Patchway’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,500 people in 2011; 17,100 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +128% for the 30 to 44 to +20% for the 65 and over. Between mid-2014 and mid-2015 the population rose by 830, its biggest one-year gain.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 94% of UK towns: 13%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Patchway has 10%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Patchway, 35.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 5.1% in Patchway, more than in 64% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 33% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 28% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Here, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Patchway households average 2.4 people, larger than in 81% 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 5.2%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns.
Only 10% of households live in a detached house in Patchway
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Patchway comes in at 22%. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. Households without a car or van: 16% of the total.
Patchway sits above 94% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (21%)
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (10%) or in the Middle East and Asia (5.4%). Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 95% of UK towns: 87%. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 42%, a lower share than 90% 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: 73% of Patchway · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 2.8% of residents. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Residents with no religion are more common here than in 83% of UK towns. Patchway sits close to the norm on residents who describe themselves as White British: 73%, about the same as across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 92% of UK towns: 41%
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
For 377 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 42%, fewer than in 82% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
Among adults, 32% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
32% of Patchway’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
From a median age of 30 in Almondsbury, Pilning & Severn Beach to 40 in Patchway
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Patchway is the oldest area, with 19% aged 65 or over; Almondsbury, Pilning & Severn Beach the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Almondsbury, Pilning & Severn Beach (39% of households).
Of 322 UK towns its size (12,000 to 22,000 people), the 9th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Patchway in age: Old Trafford (34.1), Sheerness (34.5), Carterton (35.4) and Swanscombe (35.4).
Patchway sits below 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patchway | 16,517 | — | 35.1 | 13% | 33% |
| Bradley Stoke | 25,194 | 1.3 mi | 37.3 | 11% | 33% |
| Filton | 10,955 | 1.7 mi | 34.3 | 16% | 23% |
| Almondsbury | 2,937 | 1.9 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 33% |
| Stoke Gifford | 13,477 | 2.3 mi | 27.8 | 9.9% | 28% |
| Pilning | 1,400 | 3.4 mi | 45 | 20% | 28% |
| Olveston | 1,009 | 3.6 mi | 50.6 | 33% | 25% |
| Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne | 14,969 | 4.2 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 29% |
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 Patchway’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. Patchway’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,779 people in 2021, against 16,517 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 Patchway’s residents
What is the population of Patchway?
The 2021 Census counted 16,517 people in Patchway’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 17,100 people in mid-2024, 63% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Patchway?
The median age was 35.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Patchway?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Patchway?
46% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.8% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Patchway good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Almondsbury, Pilning & Severn Beach (39% of households). Schools are on Patchway’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.