Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Burley is over 52.8, older than 94% of UK towns
Nearly half of households live in a detached house; across England’s towns the figure is 21%. Burley had 469 residents in 208 households at the 2021 Census. Households in terraced houses account for 11%. Lower than in 89% of UK towns: 22% of households have dependent children.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of UK towns, at 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
In Burley, 4.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 75% 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%.
At 11%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is in line with the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 96% of UK towns: 4.8%
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.
Households in Burley hold 2.3 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Locally, 31% of households are one person living alone. Against that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Fewer car-free households than 92% of UK towns: 7.8%
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
By its share of households in flats (5.8%), Burley is below 79% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Burley sits above 64% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (8%)
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 (3.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. The figure for residents whose main language is English is 98% in Burley and 90% across England’s towns.
Burley: 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 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: 91% of Burley · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (4.9%), Mixed or multiple (2.8%) and Indian (0.4%). 35% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 81% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Compared with 73% across England’s towns, just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British here.
56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 91% 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
9 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. For married adults and civil partners, the comparison across England’s towns is 44%. On adults who have never married, Burley sits lower than 89% of UK towns: 26%. Against a figure of 8.7% across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Burley comes in at 10%.
43% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
43% of Burley’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have none (18%).
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Burley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burley | 469 | — | 52.8 | 31% | 22% |
| Hightown | 1,296 | 2.8 mi | 48.4 | 23% | 30% |
| Bransgore | 3,688 | 3.1 mi | 52.4 | 31% | 26% |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 3.6 mi | 47 | 26% | 26% |
| Sway | 2,437 | 5.1 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 22% |
| New Milton | 11,872 | 5.2 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 20% |
| Ashley | 7,730 | 5.4 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 23% |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 5.6 mi | 60.6 | 42% | 16% |
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 Burley’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 Burley’s residents
What is the population of Burley?
The 2021 Census counted 469 people in Burley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Burley?
The median age was 52.8 at the 2021 Census. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Burley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Burley?
35% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Burley good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Burley’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.