Photo: CT Cooper · Public domainHouseholds without a car or van: 10%, a lower share than 82% of UK towns
The figure for households in detached houses is 37% in Liss and 21% across England’s towns. 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. The town is home to 4,749 residents in 2,031 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, 24% of residents are 65 or over.
A change of +6% since 2011 leaves Liss behind 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Liss’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,500 people in 2011; 4,800 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+31%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−5%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2021 to mid-2022, 180 people.
Liss is older than 71% of UK towns: a median age of 47.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.7% of residents. 9.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 64% 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+
■ Liss, 47.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Liss: 5.2% of adults are full-time students, above 66% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 19% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns. The census found that 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Liss.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 27% of households in Liss have dependent children
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.
2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. One-person households are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 30%.
Households in flats make up 16% in Liss, more than in 74% 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
The share of households in terraced houses trails 64% of UK towns: 17%. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%.
More residents born outside the UK than 75% of UK towns: 10%
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
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 97% in Liss and 90% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.7%). Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%.
Liss sits below 61% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (90%)
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 Liss · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
42% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). Next after White British come Other White (4.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Chinese (0.7%). Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%.
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 75% of UK towns don’t reach
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 113 people. 8.3% of residents give unpaid care, a lower share than in 78% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 37% 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 Liss, 37%, and 15% have none, against 18%.
Of 695 UK towns its size (3,000 to 6,000 people), the 304th 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 Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7), the oldest. Nearest to Liss in age: Barrowford (47.4), Dodworth (47.4), Great Torrington (47.4) and Skelmanthorpe (47.5).
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Liss
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liss | 4,749 | — | 47.4 | 24% | 27% |
| Hill Brow and Rake | 1,200 | 1.1 mi | 53 | 32% | 30% |
| Petersfield | 14,994 | 3.3 mi | 46.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Whitehill | 5,178 | 4 mi | 43.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Liphook | 7,128 | 4.3 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 31% |
| Bordon | 9,349 | 4.8 mi | 35.3 | 11% | 35% |
| Lindford | 2,740 | 5.4 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Headley Down and Headley | 4,935 | 6.1 mi | 52.3 | 28% | 23% |
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 Liss’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. Liss’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,550 people in 2021, against 4,749 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 Liss’s residents
What is the population of Liss?
The 2021 Census counted 4,749 people in Liss’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,800 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Liss?
The median age was 47.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 71% of UK towns. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Liss?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Liss?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Liss good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Liss’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.