Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 50.1: Fordingbridge is older than 85% of UK towns
Nearly a quarter of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 4,947 residents in 2,309 households. One-person households account for 36%. At 37%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Fordingbridge’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Fordingbridge’s residents are under 50.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% 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.
Since 2011, Fordingbridge has changed by +7%, slower than 53% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Fordingbridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,100 people in 2011; 5,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+24%); the 45 to 64 group moved least (−2%). Mid-2020 to mid-2021 brought the biggest yearly rise, 200 people.
Above 87% of UK towns: 29% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. For Fordingbridge, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.8%. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Fordingbridge, 50.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 80% of UK towns: 4.1%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 89% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
1.7% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
A town of flats: 20% of households live in one
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
Households without a car or van make up 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. On the census count, 14% of households live in a terraced house. As a reference point, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Fordingbridge: 98% of residents have English as their main language, above 67% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.2%) or in Africa (1%). Fordingbridge has fewer residents born outside the UK than 52% of UK towns, at 6.1%. To put it in context, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 19% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
Fordingbridge ranks above 73% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%
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: 95% of Fordingbridge · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (3.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.3%). Higher than in just over three fifths of UK towns: 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian. The figure for residents with no religion is 41% in Fordingbridge and 37% across England’s towns.
Fordingbridge sits below 73% of UK towns for adults who have never married (29%)
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 145. Lower than in 52% of UK towns: 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. To put it in context, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 9.6% of residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
19% of Fordingbridge’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 30% have one at degree level (34%).
169th oldest of 810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people
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 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Fordingbridge in age: Cricklade (50.1), Kingswood (50.1), Llangollen (50.1) and Haltwhistle (50.2).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 3 are older than Fordingbridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordingbridge | 4,947 | — | 50.1 | 29% | 23% |
| Sandleheath | 1,546 | 0.8 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 26% |
| Alderholt | 2,868 | 2.2 mi | 50.4 | 25% | 27% |
| Downton | 2,952 | 4.7 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Redlynch and Woodfalls | 2,446 | 4.8 mi | 53.4 | 31% | 24% |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 5.3 mi | 49 | 28% | 26% |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 5.6 mi | 47 | 26% | 26% |
| Hightown | 1,296 | 6.2 mi | 48.4 | 23% | 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 Fordingbridge’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. Fordingbridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,236 people in 2021, against 4,947 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 Fordingbridge’s residents
What is the population of Fordingbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 4,947 people in Fordingbridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,400 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Fordingbridge?
The median age was 50.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 85% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Fordingbridge?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 6.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Fordingbridge?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Fordingbridge good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Fordingbridge’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.