Photo: Roy Gray · CC BY-SA 2.0Hedge End sits above 91% of UK towns for households with dependent children (34%)
Half of Hedge End’s residents are under 40.3, younger than in nearly four in five UK towns. Here, nearly one in ten households have no car or van. This Hampshire town had 23,195 residents in 9,336 households at the 2021 Census. The typical household size is 2.5 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns.
Hedge End’s population moved +3% on 2011, less than in 72% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hedge End’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 22,800 people in 2011; 23,400 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2012 to mid-2013, the population rose by 370, the most of any year. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+35%) and the 0 to 15 group least (−7%).
In Hedge End, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.1% of residents. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 17% here, fewer than in just over four fifths of UK towns. In Barton on Sea, the oldest of Hampshire’s towns by this measure, it is 51%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hedge End, 40.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.4% of adults are full-time students, more than in 73% 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%.
Just over two fifths of Hedge End’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 8%. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Below 88% of UK towns: 24% of households are one person living alone
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.
Across Hedge End, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Hedge End: 41% of households live in a detached house, above 77% 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
Households in terraced houses make up 22%, against 24% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 12%.
7.5% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.2%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 97% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%).
A larger share of residents with no religion than 81% of UK towns: 46%
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 Hedge End · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (3.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (1.5%). For residents with no religion, the comparison across England’s towns is 37%. Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than in 62% of UK towns: 90%.
Above 73% of UK towns: 52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
In Hedge End, 7.5% of residents give unpaid care, beside 8.7% across England’s towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. 406 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
33% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Hedge End, 33%, and 12% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 31 in Lowford to 45 in Hedge End South
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Hedge End South is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Lowford the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in Lowford (50% of households).
272 UK towns of 16,000 to 31,000 people: this is the 58th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bangor is the youngest (26.4); Brixham the oldest (55.6). Nearest to Hedge End in age: Stowmarket (40.2), Whitefield (40.3), Carmarthen (40.3) and Tonypandy (40.3).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Hedge End
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hedge End | 23,195 | — | 40.3 | 17% | 34% |
| Botley | 5,900 | 1.3 mi | 36.9 | 17% | 35% |
| West End | 10,865 | 1.8 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 23% |
| Bursledon | 8,072 | 2.1 mi | 38.5 | 15% | 31% |
| Horton Heath | 3,047 | 2.3 mi | 41 | 13% | 34% |
| Whiteley | 9,350 | 3.1 mi | 38.6 | 11% | 39% |
| Netley | 6,309 | 3.5 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 25% |
| Southampton | 249,633 | 4 mi | 34.7 | 14% | 27% |
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 Hedge End’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. Hedge End’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,288 people in 2021, against 23,195 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 Hedge End’s residents
What is the population of Hedge End?
The 2021 Census counted 23,195 people in Hedge End’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 23,400 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hedge End?
The median age was 40.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hedge End?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 7.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hedge End?
46% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Hedge End good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Lowford (50% of households). Schools are on Hedge End’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.