Photo: Christine Matthews · CC BY-SA 2.032% of households live in a flat, more than in 96% of UK towns
Households in detached houses make up 13%, against 21% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 19,631 people lived in Ware, in 8,505 households. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 87%. Half of the town’s residents are under 41.7, younger than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Ware’s people
A town of flats
32% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 96% of UK towns. 15% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Ware’s population moved +7% on 2011, less than in 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ware’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 18,900 people in 2011; 20,100 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+31%) and the 16 to 29 least (−11%). Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 250, its biggest one-year gain.
In Ware, 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 75% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 7.6% of residents. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 74% of UK towns: 18%. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Oaklands, the oldest of Hertfordshire’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ware, 41.7. 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 smaller share of full-time students than 58% of UK towns: 4.6%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Ware, 9.4%. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More shared houses than 63% of UK towns: 2.6% of households
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.
The figure for one-person households is 31% in Ware and 30% across England’s towns. Each household has 2.3 people on average. Measured more widely, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
21% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 53% 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
In one household in 7 there is no car or van. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Ware sits above 69% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (8.9%)
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (4.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%). 96% of residents have English as their main language, a lower share than in 70% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 16% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
44% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 70% of UK towns
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: 87% of Ware · Hertfordshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 1.2% of residents. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. At 47%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 68% of UK towns.
Above 75% of UK towns: 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
7.5% of residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. On top of that, on married adults and civil partners, Ware sits lower than 66% of UK towns: 45%. The wider picture: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
36% of adults have a degree-level qualification
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 Ware, 36%, and 15% have none, against 18%.
82nd lowest median age among 310 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest South Hayling (57.2). Nearest to Ware in age: Staveley (41.7), Wisbech (41.7), Newport (41.7) and Sandhurst (41.8).
Ware and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ware | 19,631 | — | 41.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Great Amwell | 1,017 | 1.2 mi | 50.5 | 23% | 29% |
| Hertford Heath | 2,830 | 2.2 mi | 35.3 | 17% | 31% |
| Hertford | 28,807 | 2.3 mi | 40.5 | 16% | 30% |
| Stanstead Abbotts | 3,754 | 2.4 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 25% |
| Hoddesdon | 40,615 | 4.1 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 33% |
| Roydon | 1,587 | 4.4 mi | 48.3 | 22% | 25% |
| Watton at Stone | 2,614 | 4.8 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 32% |
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 Ware’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. Ware’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,631 people in 2021, against 19,631 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 Ware’s residents
What is the population of Ware?
The 2021 Census counted 19,631 people in Ware’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 20,100 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ware?
The median age was 41.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 71% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ware?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Hertfordshire’s towns. 8.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ware?
44% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Ware good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ware’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.