Photo: Philip Jeffrey · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.7: Cottered is older than 95% of UK towns
The share of households without a car or van is 8%, against 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are scarce here: 13%, fewer than in just over four fifths of UK towns. There were 174 households in Cottered at the 2021 Census, home to 398 residents. The census found that 22% of households have dependent children locally.
More residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Cottered, 9.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 83% of UK towns, at 7.1%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in just over a third of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 18% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). On the census count, 5.4% of adults are full-time students. As a yardstick, 11% of 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.
Cottered sits below 93% of UK towns for one-person households (23%)
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 3.5%, close to the figure across England’s towns. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison. There are 2.3 people in the average household.
47% of households live in a detached house, more than in 87% 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
The share of households in flats is 9.7%, against 23% across England’s towns. Against that, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Cottered: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 78% 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 largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). 4.5% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 70% of UK towns. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%.
Above 65% of UK towns: 43% 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: 94% of Cottered · Hertfordshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (1%). Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. At 94%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Set against 46% across England’s towns, half of residents describe themselves as Christian in Cottered.
Married adults and civil partners make up 53% in Cottered, more than in 81% 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
With adults who have never married at 30%, Cottered is behind 69% of UK towns on that count. Across Cottered, 10% of residents give unpaid care. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 33%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Cottered, 33%, and 20% have none, against 18%.
Every nearby town is younger than Cottered
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottered | 398 | — | 53.7 | 30% | 22% |
| Buntingford | 7,877 | 2.7 mi | 39.7 | 19% | 35% |
| Walkern | 1,367 | 2.8 mi | 43.8 | 17% | 33% |
| Stevenage | 94,462 | 5.1 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 32% |
| Baldock | 10,613 | 5.2 mi | 43.5 | 19% | 27% |
| Puckeridge and Standon | 3,861 | 5.9 mi | 43.6 | 19% | 32% |
| Watton at Stone | 2,614 | 6.3 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 32% |
| Letchworth | 33,993 | 6.5 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 29% |
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.
- “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 Cottered’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 Cottered’s residents
What is the population of Cottered?
The 2021 Census counted 398 people in Cottered’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cottered?
The median age was 53.7 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cottered?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Hertfordshire’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cottered?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Cottered good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cottered’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.