Red Lion Inn · Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of one-person households than 83% of UK towns: 26%
Where just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Horndean has 44%. The town had 34,046 residents in 14,292 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. 46% of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 80% of UK towns.
A change of +7% since 2011 leaves Horndean behind 52% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Horndean’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 33,900 people in 2011; 36,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+36%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−10%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2015 to mid-2016, 360 people.
Older than 66% of UK towns: half of Horndean is over 46.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.9% of residents. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 24% here, more than in 66% 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+
■ Horndean, 46.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 4.3% in Horndean, less than in 74% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.6%, against 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
2.4 people per household, more than in 73% 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.
In Horndean, 3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 27% of the total.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 73% of UK towns, at 11%
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Horndean has 12%. Few places have so few households in terraced houses: 16% here, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 98% in Horndean, more than in 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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 8.9% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. 5.8% of residents were born outside the UK. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 67% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Horndean · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian; in Horndean, 47%. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.5%).
Adults who have never married: 28%, a lower share than 79% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 840 residents. Fewer unpaid carers than in 63% of UK towns: 8.9%. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 29% of adults
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 Horndean, 29%, and 16% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 39 in Waterlooville North East to 53 in Waterlooville North 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.
Waterlooville North West is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Waterlooville North East the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Waterlooville North East (32% of households).
Of 201 UK towns its size (24,000 to 46,000 people), the 22nd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Horndean in age: Whitley Bay (46.6), Kendal (46.6), Ashton-in-Makerfield (46.7) and Wickersley and Bramley (46.7).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Horndean
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horndean | 34,046 | — | 46.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Clanfield | 1,254 | 2.3 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 24% |
| Denmead | 6,509 | 2.3 mi | 49.9 | 26% | 24% |
| Waterlooville | 34,766 | 2.5 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Rowlands Castle | 2,969 | 2.7 mi | 52.4 | 28% | 21% |
| Havant | 46,964 | 3.4 mi | 40 | 18% | 30% |
| Westbourne | 1,938 | 5 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Emsworth | 11,512 | 5.1 mi | 54.1 | 33% | 20% |
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 Horndean’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. Horndean’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 35,636 people in 2021, against 34,046 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 Horndean’s residents
What is the population of Horndean?
The 2021 Census counted 34,046 people in Horndean’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 36,300 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Horndean?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Horndean?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Horndean?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Horndean good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Waterlooville North East (32% of households). Schools are on Horndean’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.