Photo: Air1jwilkins1212 · CC BY-SA 3.0Stroud: 50% of residents said they have no religion, above 93% of UK towns
Just over a third of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. On households in flats, Stroud sits higher than nearly four fifths of UK towns: 18%. The 2021 Census counted 26,073 residents in 11,778 households. In Stroud, 25% of households have dependent children.
What the Census says about Stroud’s people
More with no religion than most
50% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 40% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Stroud changed by +3% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 69% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Stroud’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 25,200 people in 2011; 26,100 in 2024.
Between mid-2014 and mid-2015 the population rose by 430, its biggest one-year gain. Change by age ran from +36% for the 65 and over to −13% for the 16 to 29.
Residents aged 65 and over: 21%, a lower share than 58% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 45.3, Stroud is older than 56% of UK towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Here, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Minchinhampton, the oldest of Gloucestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stroud, 45.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.1% of adults are full-time students, more than in 63% 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 35% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 25% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 8%, fewer than in 65% of UK towns. The usual figure: 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.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 76% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Stroud comes in at 3.1%.
Households without a car or van: 17%, a higher share than 61% 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
Households in detached houses are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 21%. In one household in 6 there is no car or van.
More residents born abroad than 63% of UK towns: 7.8% in Stroud
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 (3.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 11% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Below 92% of UK towns: 40% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 90% of Stroud · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (5.1%), Mixed or multiple (2.4%) and Indian (0.5%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as White British: 90% here, fewer than in 63% of UK towns.
42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 83% 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
The share of adults who have never married is 37%, against 39% across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 481 residents. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 66% of UK towns. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 36% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 36% of adults in Stroud, 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 45 in Stroud Town to 47 in Rodborough & Thrupp
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.
Rodborough & Thrupp is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Stroud Town the youngest (median age 45). Families with children are most common in Rodborough & Thrupp (27% of households).
Ranked by age, 71st oldest of 260 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Egham (31.1) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Stroud in age: Hazel Grove (45.3), Market Harborough (45.3), Congleton (45.4) and Hailsham (45.4).
Stroud sits below 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud | 26,073 | — | 45.3 | 21% | 25% |
| Whiteshill and Randwick | 1,442 | 1.4 mi | 51.3 | 26% | 24% |
| Amberley | 1,300 | 2.2 mi | 55.9 | 35% | 23% |
| Brimscombe and Thrupp | 2,187 | 2.4 mi | 47.4 | 18% | 30% |
| Stonehouse | 8,302 | 2.5 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 25% |
| Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley | 3,584 | 2.5 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Chalford | 6,665 | 3.1 mi | 49.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Painswick | 1,833 | 3.1 mi | 55.4 | 36% | 19% |
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 Stroud’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. Stroud’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 25,542 people in 2021, against 26,073 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 Stroud’s residents
What is the population of Stroud?
The 2021 Census counted 26,073 people in Stroud’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 26,100 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Stroud?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stroud?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stroud?
50% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Stroud good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Rodborough & Thrupp (27% of households). Schools are on Stroud’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.