Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase · CC BY 2.0Above 78% of UK towns: 18% of households live in a flat or apartment
45% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). At 25%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 72% of UK towns. Fareham is home to 42,633 residents in 18,136 households, by the 2021 Census. For Fareham, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 24%.
From 2011 to 2024, 85% of UK towns grew faster than Fareham: ±0%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Fareham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 41,300 people in 2011; 41,300 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +20% for the 65 and over to −13% for the 16 to 29.
Older than 63% of UK towns: half of Fareham is over 46.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.5% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Fareham, 46.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 71% of UK towns, at 4.4%
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%.
Here 9.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, where the figure across England’s towns is 11%. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
In Fareham, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 78% 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.
The figure for one-person households is 28% in Fareham and 30% across England’s towns. On average, 2.3 people share a household. Against that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Households in detached houses: 27%, a lower share than 56% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Fareham comes in at 22%. Still, 18% of households live in a flat, more than in 78% of UK towns; 27% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Across Fareham, 15% of households have no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK: 7.4%, a higher share than 60% 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
Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 15% (England’s towns: 21%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 47% in Fareham, less than in 69% 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 Fareham · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
92% of residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%). As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.9%).
Adults who have never married: 30%, a lower share than 64% 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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8.5%, about the same as across England’s towns. Against that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Degree-level qualifications: 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Fareham counts 32% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 15% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 24 in Stubbington to 52 in Fareham West
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Fareham West is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Stubbington the youngest (median age 24). Families with children are most common in Titchfield & Titchfield Common (35% of households).
18th oldest of 165 UK towns of 30,000 to 58,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Fareham in age: Morecambe (45.9), Brighouse (46.1), Lichfield (46.3) and Canvey Island (46.3).
Fareham is younger than 2 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fareham | 42,633 | — | 46.2 | 24% | 25% |
| Knowle | 1,487 | 1.9 mi | 35.2 | 6.7% | 28% |
| Lee-on-the-Solent | 24,307 | 3 mi | 52.3 | 31% | 23% |
| Wickham | 2,170 | 3.1 mi | 48.6 | 29% | 23% |
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | 3.4 mi | 45.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Whiteley | 9,350 | 3.4 mi | 38.6 | 11% | 39% |
| Gosport | 70,120 | 3.9 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 27% |
| Waltham Chase | 2,830 | 5.5 mi | 43.7 | 20% | 30% |
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 Fareham’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. Fareham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 41,089 people in 2021, against 42,633 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 Fareham’s residents
What is the population of Fareham?
The 2021 Census counted 42,633 people in Fareham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 41,300 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Fareham?
The median age was 46.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 63% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Fareham?
92% 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 Fareham?
45% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Fareham good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Titchfield & Titchfield Common (35% of households). Schools are on Fareham’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.