Photo: Mark.murphy at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.08.2% of households have no car or van, below 91% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Bovingdon, 81%. The town counted 5,313 residents and 1,845 households at the 2021 Census. Adults who have never married: just over two fifths of the total. With a median age of 41.6, Bovingdon is younger than 71% of UK towns.
19% of residents are 65 or over, below 69% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 25–29 than any other five-year age: 8.8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bovingdon, 41.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
42% women, 58% men
About 72 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% in Bovingdon, more than in 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%.
By class, just over a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Locally, 4.6% of adults are full-time students.
2.4 people per household, more than in 67% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Hertfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Bovingdon comes in at 2.2%. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are common here: 28%, more than in 61% of UK towns. For Bovingdon, the census puts one-person households at 30%.
A town of flats: 19% of households live in one
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
Households in terraced houses: 21% here and 24% across England’s towns. Typically, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The census found that 28% of households live in a detached house in Bovingdon.
More residents born outside the UK than 76% of UK towns: 10%
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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 9.5% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. Lower than in 75% of UK towns: 96% of residents have English as their main language. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.7%) and in Africa (2.4%).
Bovingdon sits below 51% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (50%)
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: 81% of Bovingdon · Hertfordshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion are about as common here as across England’s towns: 37%. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns. Muslims make up 4.7% of residents.
42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 86% 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
Some 114 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 7.9%, fewer than in 85% of UK towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%.
Among adults, 33% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 33% of its adults qualified to degree level, Bovingdon compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 14% hold no qualification (18%).
Of 516 UK towns its size (4,000 to 7,000 people), the 106th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Bovingdon in age: Milton (41.5), Marchwood (41.5), Bisley (41.6) and Sowerby Bridge (41.7).
5 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Bovingdon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | — | 41.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Chipperfield | 1,678 | 2.2 mi | 50.5 | 26% | 27% |
| Berkhamsted | 21,236 | 3.1 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 32% |
| Chesham | 23,691 | 3.4 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Potten End | 1,270 | 3.5 mi | 50.5 | 26% | 29% |
| Hemel Hempstead | 95,995 | 3.8 mi | 38.5 | 15% | 33% |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 4 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 38% |
| Amersham | 17,377 | 4.3 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 34% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Hertfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Hertfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Bovingdon’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 Bovingdon’s residents
What is the population of Bovingdon?
The 2021 Census counted 5,313 people in Bovingdon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bovingdon?
The median age was 41.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 71% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bovingdon?
81% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Hertfordshire’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bovingdon?
37% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4.7% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Bovingdon good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bovingdon’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.