Photo: Jonathan Billinger · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 38.2: Lea is younger than 88% of UK towns
In Lea, 33% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 501 residents and 212 households here. One-person households account for 26%. At 42%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in four fifths of UK towns.
In Lea, 19% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 72% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.6%, below 56% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 97% of UK towns: 16%
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%.
37% of Lea’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 5.3% here. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.4 people per household, more than in 78% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Herefordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Lea has more shared households of unrelated adults than 51% of UK towns, at 2.4%.
Lea ranks below 73% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 11%
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
Flats are home to 10% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. About one household in 9 lives without a car or van. Households in terraced houses are rarer here than in 56% of UK towns.
4.4% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 73% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.8%) and in Africa (1.2%). Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 64% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%.
Above 89% of UK towns: 48% of residents said they have no religion
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: 95% of Lea · Herefordshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Mixed or multiple (2.2%), Other White (1.8%) and African (0.4%). For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Lea sits higher than 74% of UK towns: 95%. At 46%, residents who describe themselves as Christian sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
Fewer unpaid carers than 98% of UK towns: 6.6%
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
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 7. On married adults and civil partners, Lea sits lower than 62% of UK towns: 46%. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 37% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 17% hold no qualification (18%).
Every nearby town is older than Lea
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea | 501 | — | 38.2 | 19% | 33% |
| Mitcheldean | 2,163 | 2 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 27% |
| Drybrook | 2,572 | 3 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 28% |
| Ruardean | 1,195 | 3.7 mi | 52.4 | 29% | 20% |
| Huntley | 1,152 | 3.8 mi | 51.6 | 31% | 26% |
| Ross-on-Wye | 10,993 | 4.2 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 22% |
| Newent | 5,360 | 4.3 mi | 44.7 | 25% | 25% |
| Cinderford | 8,778 | 4.9 mi | 44 | 22% | 25% |
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.
- “Herefordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Herefordshire (or England), summed the same way as Lea’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 Lea’s residents
What is the population of Lea?
The 2021 Census counted 501 people in Lea’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Lea?
The median age was 38.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lea?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Herefordshire’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lea?
48% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Lea good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lea’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.