Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0Younger than 99% of UK towns: half of Steep is under 19.8
37% of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%. Across Steep, 22% of households are one person living alone. The village has fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 93% of UK towns, at 40%. At the 2021 Census, 796 people lived here, in 192 households.
Steep sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (33%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Steep, just over one in ten residents are 65 or over, beside 18% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 35%
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%.
By its share of residents who moved in within the year (20%), Steep is above 98% of UK towns. The wider picture: 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.
Bigger households than 95% of UK towns: 2.6 people each 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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 5.7% in Steep.
Households in terraced houses make up 5.7% in Steep, less than in 97% 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
In Steep, 6.7% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. The census found that just over half of households live in a detached house in the village. On households in flats, Steep sits higher than 66% of UK towns: 14%.
94% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 81% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (6.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (5.8%). The wider picture: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. There is little gap on residents born outside the UK: 18%, about the same as across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 86% of UK towns, at 78%
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: 78% of Steep · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (11%), Mixed or multiple (5.9%) and Chinese (1.1%). 37% of residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 76% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%.
Steep ranks above 97% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 47%
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 8 people. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Steep has fewer unpaid carers than 98% of UK towns, at 6.6%. Here 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 41%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Steep, 41% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 8.9% have no qualification at all (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 13%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
The towns around Steep are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steep | 796 | — | 19.8 | 11% | 37% |
| Petersfield | 14,994 | 1.1 mi | 46.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Liss | 4,749 | 2.9 mi | 47.4 | 24% | 27% |
| Hill Brow and Rake | 1,200 | 3.1 mi | 53 | 32% | 30% |
| Clanfield | 1,254 | 6.2 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 24% |
| Whitehill | 5,178 | 6.4 mi | 43.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Liphook | 7,128 | 7.1 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 31% |
| Bordon | 9,349 | 7.3 mi | 35.3 | 11% | 35% |
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 Steep’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 Steep’s residents
What is the population of Steep?
The 2021 Census counted 796 people in Steep’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Steep?
The median age was 19.8 at the 2021 Census. 33% of residents were 15 to 24 and 11% were 65 or over.
Is Steep a student village?
Yes: 35% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (209 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns.
How diverse is Steep?
78% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Steep?
37% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 22% didn’t answer.
Is Steep good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Steep’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.