Photo: Colin Riegels / Legis at en.wikipedia · Public domain35% of households have dependent children, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
One-person households: 26%, below just over four fifths of UK towns. Locally, one in ten households have no car or van. 9.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 72% of UK towns. Wheathampstead is home to 4,523 residents in 1,817 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Wheathampstead’s people
A town of families
35% of Wheathampstead’s 1,817 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 93% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A median age of 44.1: Wheathampstead is younger than 53% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 10–14: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over: just over a fifth of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wheathampstead, 44.1. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
A student town: 5.1% of adults study full-time
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, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Wheathampstead has 8.2%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 88% of UK towns: 2.5 people each on average
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.
2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (England’s towns: 4.3%).
21% of households live in a flat, more than in 85% 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 Wheathampstead, 27% of households live in a detached house, beside 21% across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 20%.
10% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 74% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 14%. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. For Wheathampstead, the census puts residents whose main language is English at 97%.
A lower White British share than 76% of UK towns: 86% of residents
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: 86% of Wheathampstead · Hertfordshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
1.5% of residents are Muslim. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%; Wheathampstead has 50%.
Married adults and civil partners: 53%, a higher share than 82% 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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.8%, from the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%. For Wheathampstead, the census puts adults who have never married at 29%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 45% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Wheathampstead’s adults: 45% with a degree-level qualification and 12% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
215th lowest median age among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Wheathampstead in age: Little Paxton (44), Ripponden (44.1), Aston Clinton (44.1) and Colden Common (44.1).
Wheathampstead sits below 4 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Wheathampstead’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 Wheathampstead’s residents
What is the population of Wheathampstead?
The 2021 Census counted 4,523 people in Wheathampstead’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wheathampstead?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 53% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wheathampstead?
86% 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 Wheathampstead?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Wheathampstead good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wheathampstead’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.