Photo: AlanFord at English Wikipedia · Public domain8.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 90% of UK towns
A quarter of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). At 28%, the share of adults who have never married is lower than in 78% of UK towns. Romsey had 19,923 residents and 9,044 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 47 (older than 69% of UK towns). Households in terraced houses account for 30%.
What the Census says about Romsey’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Romsey at 18,000 in 2011 and 21,300 in 2024, up 18%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 82% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Romsey grew +18% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 82% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Romsey’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 18,000 people in 2011; 21,300 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +48% for the 65 and over to −5% for the 16 to 29. The biggest one-year rise was mid-2014 to mid-2015, 480 people.
27% of Romsey is 65 or over, a higher share than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 7.3% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. With a median age of 47, Romsey is older than 69% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Romsey, 47. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Only 4% of adults are full-time students in Romsey
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Romsey has 43% and 19%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 81% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
One-person households make up 33%, against 30% across England’s towns. Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here.
Romsey sits above 79% of UK towns for households in flats (18%)
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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 14% of households have no car or van here. On average, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Households in detached houses account for 28%.
More residents born outside the UK than 61% of UK towns: 7.5%
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
13% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.9%).
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 58% of UK towns: 51%
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: 92% of Romsey · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
92% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.6%). Typically, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
In Romsey, 50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 64% 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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.4%, from the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
40% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Romsey counts 40% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 14% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 35 in Abbotswood & West Wellow to 55 in Romsey Town
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.
Romsey Town is the oldest area, with 36% aged 65 or over; Abbotswood & West Wellow the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Abbotswood & West Wellow (39% of households).
60th oldest of 310 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Romsey in age: Hockley and Hawkwell (47), Ashtead (47), Buxton (47.1) and Belper (47.1).
Romsey sits below 4 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romsey | 19,923 | — | 47 | 27% | 25% |
| North Baddesley | 6,996 | 2.1 mi | 47.2 | 26% | 28% |
| Rownhams and Nursling | 4,796 | 3.6 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 29% |
| Chandler's Ford | 31,965 | 4.2 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 31% |
| Chilworth | 1,169 | 4.3 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 32% |
| West Wellow | 1,584 | 5 mi | 54.9 | 33% | 22% |
| Totton | 28,093 | 5.4 mi | 43.7 | 20% | 28% |
| King's Somborne | 1,206 | 5.5 mi | 50.7 | 27% | 24% |
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 Romsey’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. Romsey’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 20,758 people in 2021, against 19,923 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 Romsey’s residents
What is the population of Romsey?
The 2021 Census counted 19,923 people in Romsey’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 21,300 people in mid-2024, 18% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Romsey?
The median age was 47 at the 2021 Census, older than 69% of UK towns. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Romsey?
92% 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 Romsey?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Romsey good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Abbotswood & West Wellow (39% of households). Schools are on Romsey’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.