Photo: Barry Shimmon · CC BY-SA 2.0A family town: 39% of households have dependent children
24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 4.6% in Whiteley. The town is home to 9,350 residents in 3,571 households, by the 2021 Census. Locally, 18% of households are one person living alone. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 50% here, more than in 89% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Whiteley’s people
A town of families
39% of Whiteley’s 3,571 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 97% of UK towns. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Whiteley’s residents are under 38.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 11% are 65 or over. 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.
Whiteley’s population changed by +11% since 2011, more than in 65% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Whiteley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 9,100 people in 2011; 10,200 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2012 to mid-2013, 260 people.
Whiteley sits below 97% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (11%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; in Whiteley, 11%. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. With a median age of 38.6, Whiteley is younger than 87% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Whiteley, 38.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.5%, a higher share than 88% 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%.
51% of Whiteley’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 12% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 10%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Whiteley households average 2.6 people, larger than in 96% 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults tops nearly four fifths of UK towns: 3.1%.
Fewer flats than 61% of UK towns: 8.8% of households
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
Just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
11% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 77% 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
Residents whose main language is English: 96% here and 90% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (3.1%).
More residents with no religion than 82% of UK towns: 46%
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: 88% of Whiteley · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (5.1%), Indian (2.2%) and Mixed or multiple (2%). 88% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 72% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 45%, Whiteley is behind 77% of UK towns on that count.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 89% of UK towns: 55%
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
The share of unpaid carers trails 98% of UK towns: 6.6%. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. The census found that 31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Whiteley.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 44% of Whiteley’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 6.8% have no qualification (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 20%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
413 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people: this is the 32nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Seaton the oldest (61). Nearest to Whiteley in age: Littleport (38.6), Snodland (38.6), Brynteg (38.6) and Knottingley (38.7).
Whiteley is younger than 4 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteley | 9,350 | — | 38.6 | 11% | 39% |
| Locks Heath | 35,744 | 1.6 mi | 45.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Knowle | 1,487 | 2.3 mi | 35.2 | 6.7% | 28% |
| Bursledon | 8,072 | 2.6 mi | 38.5 | 15% | 31% |
| Botley | 5,900 | 3 mi | 36.9 | 17% | 35% |
| Hedge End | 23,195 | 3.1 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 34% |
| Wickham | 2,170 | 3.2 mi | 48.6 | 29% | 23% |
| Hamble-le-Rice | 4,613 | 3.3 mi | 47.6 | 23% | 24% |
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 Whiteley’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. Whiteley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,644 people in 2021, against 9,350 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 Whiteley’s residents
What is the population of Whiteley?
The 2021 Census counted 9,350 people in Whiteley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,200 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Whiteley?
The median age was 38.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 87% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 11% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whiteley?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Whiteley?
46% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Whiteley good for families?
39% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whiteley’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.