Photo: Robin Drayton · CC BY-SA 2.0A young town: 20% of residents are 15 to 24
The share of shared households of unrelated adults tops 98% of UK towns: 7.1%. There were 19,160 households in Winchester at the 2021 Census, home to 48,486 residents. The census found that 43% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in the town. More households in flats than in 93% of UK towns: 27%.
What the Census says about Winchester’s people
A student town
The 2021 Census counted 7,044 full-time students aged 16 and over, 18% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 99% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 20% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
A town people move to
18% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns, and 2.9% gave a term-time address. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Winchester’s residents are under 38 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 20% are 15 to 24 and 18% 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.
Winchester grew +10% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 61% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Winchester’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 44,700 people in 2011; 49,200 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 45 to 64 (+16%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (+3%). Between mid-2015 and mid-2016 the population rose by 870, its biggest one-year gain.
Winchester is younger than 89% of UK towns: a median age of 38
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 20–24: one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 18%, fewer than in 78% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Winchester, 38. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 18%
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%.
Leave the students aside and Winchester’s other adults differ from England’s: 51% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. More residents who moved in within the year than in 98% of UK towns: 18%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 62% of UK towns: 2.3 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.
Here 31% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. Households with dependent children account for 27%.
22% of households have no car or van, a share 81% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Where 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Winchester has 22%. Typically, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Across Winchester, just over a quarter of households live in a terraced house.
Winchester sits below 82% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (94%)
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
Just over a quarter of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. The census found that 16% of residents were born outside the UK in Winchester. Across England’s towns, 90% of residents have English as their main language.
Winchester ranks below 82% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 82%
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: 82% of Winchester · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
1.2% of residents said their religion is Muslim. Winchester has more residents with no religion than 73% of UK towns, at 45%. By contrast, residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 44%, against 46% across England’s towns.
Below 96% of UK towns: 7.1% of residents give unpaid care
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
810 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 42%, the share of married adults and civil partners is lower than in 83% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 47%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 47% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 10% hold no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 21%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 24 in Winchester Stanmore to 43 in Winchester North & Sparsholt
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Winchester North & Sparsholt is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Winchester Stanmore the youngest (median age 24). Students cluster in Winchester Stanmore, where 41% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Winchester North & Sparsholt (35% of households).
Of 145 UK towns its size (34,000 to 65,000 people), the 29th youngest
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 Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Lytham St Anne's (54.4), the oldest. Nearest to Winchester in age: Kirkby (37.9), Chadderton (38), Gravesend (38.3) and Skelmersdale (38.4).
Older than Winchester: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | 48,486 | — | 38 | 18% | 27% |
| Littleton | 1,506 | 1.8 mi | 35 | 19% | 26% |
| Kings Worthy | 4,631 | 2.6 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Twyford | 1,482 | 3 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 33% |
| Compton | 1,307 | 3.4 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 31% |
| South Wonston | 2,686 | 3.8 mi | 45.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Otterbourne | 1,252 | 3.9 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 32% |
| Colden Common | 3,827 | 4.7 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 30% |
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 Winchester’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. Winchester’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 47,307 people in 2021, against 48,486 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 Winchester’s residents
What is the population of Winchester?
The 2021 Census counted 48,486 people in Winchester’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 49,200 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Winchester?
The median age was 38 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of UK towns. 20% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
Is Winchester a student town?
Yes: 18% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (7,044 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Winchester Stanmore, 41% of adults were students.
How diverse is Winchester?
82% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Winchester?
45% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 7.1% didn’t answer.
Is Winchester good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Winchester North & Sparsholt (35% of households). Schools are on Winchester’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.