Photo: Stacey Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 95% of UK towns: half of Appledore is over 53.6
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Appledore comes in at 6.2%. Nearly a fifth of households have dependent children. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 99% of UK towns: 0.9%. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 247, in 113 households.
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: just over one in ten residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 9.7%. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Appledore: 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 94% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in just over two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 11% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). At 5.1%, the share of full-time students is higher than in 63% of UK towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Appledore households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 82% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Kent’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
One-person households make up 31%, against 30% across England’s towns.
59% of households live in a detached house, more than in 96% 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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Appledore has 5.3%. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 16% in the village. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 100% in Appledore, more than in 99% 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
Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK; in Appledore, 3.6%. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%) and in Africa (1.6%).
31% said they have no religion, fewer than in 91% 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: 96% of Appledore · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 82% across Kent’s towns and 73% across England’s towns. For residents with no religion, the comparison across England’s towns is 37%. The census found that 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Appledore.
Below 91% of UK towns: 25% 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
5 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Measured more widely, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On married adults and civil partners, Appledore sits higher than 90% of UK towns: 56%. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.4%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 41%
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 Appledore, 41%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Appledore
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore | 247 | — | 53.6 | 28% | 19% |
| Woodchurch | 1,201 | 3.1 mi | 56.8 | 39% | 22% |
| Hamstreet | 1,738 | 3.7 mi | 45.6 | 23% | 31% |
| Tenterden | 7,775 | 5.2 mi | 54.4 | 35% | 20% |
| Shadoxhurst | 1,009 | 5.5 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 26% |
| Rye | 4,888 | 6.1 mi | 52.5 | 30% | 19% |
| Camber | 1,132 | 6.6 mi | 50.8 | 25% | 22% |
| Bethersden | 1,008 | 6.9 mi | 50.8 | 28% | 24% |
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.
- “Kent’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Kent (or England), summed the same way as Appledore’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 Appledore’s residents
What is the population of Appledore?
The 2021 Census counted 247 people in Appledore’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Appledore?
The median age was 53.6 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Appledore?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Appledore?
31% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 10% didn’t answer.
Is Appledore good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Appledore’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.