Photo: Griffp · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 56.5: Swindon is older than 98% of UK towns
Where 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, Swindon has 23%. In 2021, the Census found 517 residents locally, living in 235 households. 6% of households live in a terraced house. At 61%, the share of married adults and civil partners is higher than in 99% of UK towns.
36% of Swindon is 65 or over, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.5%, against 12% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
Swindon ranks below 98% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.1%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Swindon has 45% and 17%. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
In Swindon, 18% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 97% 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.
The typical household size is 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 29% across England’s towns. 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Swindon sits above 90% of UK towns for households in detached houses (50%)
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 without a car or van make up 9.1%, against 24% across England’s towns. As a reference point, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 8.5%, a higher share than 67% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (3.1%). 96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 70% of UK towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
In Swindon, 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 92% 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: 90% of Swindon · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, against 34% in Swindon. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. For Swindon, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 90%.
Swindon ranks below 99% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 21%
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
Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, against 12% in Swindon. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 13 people. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Among adults, 39% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 39% of its adults qualified to degree level, Swindon compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 16% hold no qualification (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Swindon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swindon | 517 | — | 56.5 | 36% | 18% |
| Cheltenham | 115,941 | 1.9 mi | 40.1 | 19% | 25% |
| Bishop's Cleeve | 16,323 | 2.4 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 30% |
| Prestbury | 4,078 | 2.5 mi | 51.1 | 31% | 23% |
| Gotherington | 1,131 | 3.3 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 27% |
| Shurdington | 1,888 | 4.1 mi | 48.9 | 29% | 26% |
| Churchdown | 13,480 | 4.6 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Tewkesbury | 14,387 | 4.9 mi | 44 | 21% | 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 Swindon’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 Swindon’s residents
What is the population of Swindon?
The 2021 Census counted 517 people in Swindon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Swindon?
The median age was 56.5 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swindon?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swindon?
34% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 3.7% didn’t answer.
Is Swindon good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Swindon’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.