Church of St Mary · Photo: Jack Fitzsimons · CC BY-SA 4.0Older than 91% of UK towns: half of Crawley is over 51.5
By its share of households without a car or van (5.3%), Crawley is below 98% of UK towns. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 55% here, more than in 93% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 316 residents and 133 households in the village. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 65% of the total.
Fewer young people than 99% of UK towns: 6.4% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 11% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over: 29% of the total.
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.
In Crawley, 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more 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%.
The share of full-time students tops 80% of UK towns: 5.8%. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
21% of households are one person living alone, below 97% 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.
Households average 2.4 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.5% of the total. Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone.
Households in flats make up 1.5% in Crawley, less than in 98% 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
6.8% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Above 79% of UK towns: 12% of residents were born outside the UK
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in Africa (4.1%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (4.1%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. More residents whose main language is English than in two thirds of UK towns: 98%.
No religion: 29% of residents, a lower share than 95% 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 Crawley · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%. By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns, at 67%
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
Unpaid carers make up 8.1%, close to the figure across England’s towns. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. For Crawley, the census puts adults who have never married at 18%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 61% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
7.3% of Crawley’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 61% have one at degree level (34%).
Every nearby town is younger than Crawley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley | 316 | — | 51.5 | 29% | 27% |
| Littleton | 1,506 | 2.6 mi | 35 | 19% | 26% |
| South Wonston | 2,686 | 2.8 mi | 45.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Kings Worthy | 4,631 | 4 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Winchester | 48,486 | 4.3 mi | 38 | 18% | 27% |
| King's Somborne | 1,206 | 4.7 mi | 50.7 | 27% | 24% |
| Compton | 1,307 | 6.9 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 31% |
| Twyford | 1,482 | 7 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 33% |
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.
- “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 Crawley’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 Crawley’s residents
What is the population of Crawley?
The 2021 Census counted 316 people in Crawley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Crawley?
The median age was 51.5 at the 2021 Census. 6.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Crawley?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Crawley?
29% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Crawley good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Crawley’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.