Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Emsworth is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 54.1
The share of one-person households tops 82% of UK towns: 34%. At the 2021 Census, 11,512 people lived in Emsworth, in 5,366 households. In Emsworth, a fifth of households have dependent children. Just over a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a lower share than in 89% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Emsworth’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Emsworth’s residents are under 54.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, Emsworth outgrew 64% of UK towns: +11%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Emsworth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,200 people in 2011; 12,400 in 2024.
Between mid-2014 and mid-2015 the population rose by 300, its biggest one-year gain. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+24%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (+2%).
Emsworth: 33% of residents are 65 or over, above 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 8% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Emsworth, 7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Emsworth, 54.1. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Below 90% of UK towns: 3.8% of adults are full-time students
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 Emsworth, 44% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 17% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%. Residents who moved in within the year: 8.8% of the total.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 91% 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.
Here, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
A larger share of households in detached houses than 71% of UK towns: 37%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%; Emsworth has 14%. On average, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Locally, 13% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Above 71% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
In Emsworth, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK, beside 18% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (3.2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 75% of UK towns, at 54%
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: 94% of Emsworth · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 38% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across England’s towns is 37%. 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a higher share than in 62% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.5%).
Emsworth ranks above 71% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 51%
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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 255 people. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Emsworth, 41% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 14% have no qualification at all (18%).
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 432 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Emsworth in age: Woodbridge (53.3), Bewdley (53.5), Porthcawl (54.1) and Cleveleys (54.3).
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Emsworth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emsworth | 11,512 | — | 54.1 | 33% | 20% |
| Westbourne | 1,938 | 0.9 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Southbourne | 4,150 | 1.2 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 25% |
| Havant | 46,964 | 2.3 mi | 40 | 18% | 30% |
| West Thorney | 1,729 | 2.3 mi | 28.2 | 0.1% | 79% |
| Hambrook and Nutbourne | 2,752 | 2.3 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 30% |
| Rowlands Castle | 2,969 | 2.6 mi | 52.4 | 28% | 21% |
| Stoke | 1,267 | 3.1 mi | 57.5 | 36% | 18% |
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 Emsworth’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. Emsworth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,090 people in 2021, against 11,512 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 Emsworth’s residents
What is the population of Emsworth?
The 2021 Census counted 11,512 people in Emsworth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,400 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Emsworth?
The median age was 54.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 95% of UK towns. 7.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Emsworth?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Emsworth?
38% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Emsworth good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Emsworth’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.