Photo: Pauline Eccles · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 91% of UK towns: half of Sling is over 51.7
9% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Compared with other places, households in flats are scarce here: 2.1%, fewer than in 97% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 895 residents in 388 households. Locally, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Fewer young people than 95% of UK towns: 7.8% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students make up 3.5% in Sling, less than in 95% 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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, 5.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Sling sits below 78% of UK towns for households with dependent children (24%)
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 Sling the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children. Here, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
10% of households have no car or van, below 82% 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
Where 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Sling has 39%. Measured more widely, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 100% in Sling, 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
The figure for residents born outside the UK is 3.9% in Sling and 18% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in Africa (1.7%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 90% of UK towns: 96%
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 Sling · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 50% in Sling. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. For Sling, the census puts residents with no religion at 42%.
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Sling, more than in 85% 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
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Sling comes in at 50%. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns. On the census count, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
Degree-level qualifications reach 21% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Sling, 21% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 26% have no qualification at all (18%).
Sling is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sling | 895 | — | 51.7 | 29% | 24% |
| Bream | 3,117 | 1.9 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 26% |
| Coleford | 5,023 | 1.9 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 22% |
| Broadwell and Coalway | 3,304 | 2.1 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 26% |
| Berry Hill | 2,211 | 3 mi | 51.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Yorkley and Whitecroft | 2,678 | 3 mi | 51 | 27% | 23% |
| Lydney | 9,655 | 4.3 mi | 44 | 23% | 26% |
| Ruspidge | 2,431 | 5.1 mi | 45.2 | 21% | 27% |
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 Sling’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 Sling’s residents
What is the population of Sling?
The 2021 Census counted 895 people in Sling’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sling?
The median age was 51.7 at the 2021 Census. 7.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sling?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sling?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Sling good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sling’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.