Photo: Peter Facey · CC BY-SA 2.0Hightown sits below 99% of UK towns for households without a car or van (2.9%)
Households in detached houses: 81% here and 21% across England’s towns. Hightown’s 490 households held 1,296 residents at the 2021 Census. Adults who have never married: nearly a quarter of the total. The median age locally is 48.4, higher than in just over three quarters of UK towns.
9.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 63% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Locally, 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of full-time students than 88% of UK towns: 6.4%
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%.
Nearly half of Hightown’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 11% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Fewer residents who moved in within the year than in 62% of UK towns: 8.2%. Typically, 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 99% of UK towns: 16% 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.
The average household has 2.6 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. In Hightown, 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Higher than in 74% of UK towns: 30% of households have dependent children.
Below 94% of UK towns: 7.7% of households live in a terraced house
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 flats: 4.2% here and 23% across England’s towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 97% of UK towns: 99%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.6%) or in Africa (1.6%). For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%. Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 6.9% of residents were born outside the UK here.
A higher White British share than 79% of UK towns: 95% of residents
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 Hightown · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and African (0.4%). Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 76% of UK towns. Compared with 37% across England’s towns, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion here.
Hightown: 62% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 99% 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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 22 people. Hightown has fewer unpaid carers than 83% of UK towns, at 8.1%. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 45% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 45% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 8.6% hold no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 16%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Nearby, 5 of 7 towns have older populations than Hightown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hightown | 1,296 | — | 48.4 | 23% | 30% |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 0.8 mi | 47 | 26% | 26% |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 3.1 mi | 60.6 | 42% | 16% |
| Bransgore | 3,688 | 4.3 mi | 52.4 | 31% | 26% |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 5.3 mi | 48.3 | 29% | 29% |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 5.3 mi | 56.5 | 38% | 19% |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 5.3 mi | 49 | 28% | 26% |
| Alderholt | 2,868 | 5.6 mi | 50.4 | 25% | 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 Hightown’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 Hightown’s residents
What is the population of Hightown?
The 2021 Census counted 1,296 people in Hightown’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hightown?
The median age was 48.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hightown?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hightown?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Hightown good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hightown’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.