Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0Oakley is older than 87% of UK towns: a median age of 50.5
By its share of one-person households (23%), Oakley is below 94% of UK towns. There were 2,238 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 5,264 residents. For Oakley, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 61%. 7.7% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 93% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Oakley’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Oakley’s residents are under 50.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% 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, Oakley has changed by +6%, slower than 56% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oakley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,500 people in 2011; 5,800 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2020 to mid-2021: 160 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+48%) and 45 to 64 least (−18%).
Oakley: 30% of residents are 65 or over, above 91% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 9.1% of residents, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 87% of UK towns: 8.4%. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oakley, 50.5. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 78% of UK towns: 4.2%
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: 11%. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Fewer households with dependent children than 71% of UK towns: 25%
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.
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Across England’s towns, households with dependent children come to 29%.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 95% of UK towns, at 57%
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Oakley comes in at 3.7%. This Hampshire town has fewer households in terraced houses than 89% of UK towns, at 10%. Typically, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 72% of UK towns don’t reach
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
8.1% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.6%) or in Africa (1.6%). On average, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 55%, a higher share than 79% of UK towns
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: 93% of Oakley · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (38%), Oakley is below nearly two thirds of UK towns. Across the comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 93% in the town.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 97% of UK towns: 23%
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
114 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%. Oakley sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 9.1%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Oakley, 13%, while 37% hold one at degree level (34%).
86th highest median age among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Oakley in age: Wingerworth (50.5), Alcester (50.5), Banks (50.6) and Danbury (50.6).
Oakley and its 7 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakley | 5,264 | — | 50.5 | 30% | 25% |
| Basingstoke | 117,211 | 3.4 mi | 37.8 | 14% | 31% |
| Overton | 4,350 | 3.9 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 27% |
| Old Basing | 3,834 | 6 mi | 51 | 27% | 24% |
| Kingsclere | 2,889 | 6.1 mi | 49.1 | 25% | 23% |
| Whitchurch | 5,291 | 7.1 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 29% |
| Tadley | 14,767 | 7.3 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 27% |
| Bramley | 4,730 | 7.4 mi | 39.2 | 14% | 37% |
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 Oakley’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. Oakley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,689 people in 2021, against 5,264 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 Oakley’s residents
What is the population of Oakley?
The 2021 Census counted 5,264 people in Oakley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,800 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oakley?
The median age was 50.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oakley?
93% 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 Oakley?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Oakley good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Oakley’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.