Brockenhurst Baptist Church · Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0Brockenhurst is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55.1
Households in detached houses: 58%, above 95% of UK towns. 6.7% of households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 96% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 3,484 residents in 1,470 households. For Brockenhurst, the census puts households with dependent children at 23%.
What the Census says about Brockenhurst’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Brockenhurst’s residents are under 55.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Brockenhurst at 3,600 in 2011 and 3,400 in 2024, down 3%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 94% 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.
Since 2011, Brockenhurst has changed by −3%, slower than 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brockenhurst’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,600 people in 2011; 3,400 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+15%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−23%).
Brockenhurst: 34% of residents are 65 or over, above 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: nearly one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. For Brockenhurst, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.7%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brockenhurst, 55.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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 3.9% in Brockenhurst, less than in 87% 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 Brockenhurst, 48% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Brockenhurst, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 10%.
27% of households are one person living alone, below 70% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Hampshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Brockenhurst, 2.3. The usual figure: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van: 9.9%, a lower share than 83% 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
13% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. Every 10th household or so has no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK make up 10% in Brockenhurst, more than in 76% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Since 2017: just over a fifth of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. The share of residents whose main language is English stands at 97%.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 56%, a higher share than 84% 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: 92% of Brockenhurst · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (5.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.5%). Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 78% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Here 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, where the figure across England’s towns is 73%.
Only 23% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Brockenhurst
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
Set against 44% across England’s towns, 58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Brockenhurst. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Across Brockenhurst, 8.5% of residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications: 49% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 49% of adults in Brockenhurst (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 9.8% (England’s towns: 18%).
40th highest median age among 749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Brockenhurst in age: Kessingland (55), Topsham (55), Tickhill (55.3) and Seaton Sluice (55.4).
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Brockenhurst
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Hampshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Hampshire (or England), summed the same way as Brockenhurst’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. Brockenhurst’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,484 people in 2021, against 3,484 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 Brockenhurst’s residents
What is the population of Brockenhurst?
The 2021 Census counted 3,484 people in Brockenhurst’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,400 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Brockenhurst?
The median age was 55.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 97% of UK towns. 7.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brockenhurst?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brockenhurst?
36% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Brockenhurst good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Brockenhurst’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. 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.