Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Ashford is under 37.2, younger than 91% of UK towns
Terraced houses are home to 28% of households, against 24% across England’s towns. Across Ashford, 77% of residents describe themselves as White British. On adults who have never married, Ashford sits higher than 80% of UK towns: 37%. At the 2021 Census Ashford was home to 82,143 people in 32,180 households.
What the Census says about Ashford’s people
A town of families
35% of Ashford’s 32,180 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 93% of UK towns. 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Ashford’s residents are under 37.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Ashford at 74,600 in 2011 and 87,500 in 2024, up 17%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 80% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Ashford grew +17% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ashford’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 74,600 people in 2011; 87,500 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 2,160. Change by age ran from +34% for the 65 and over to +3% for the 16 to 29.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 91% of UK towns: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Ashford, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 30–34: 8% of residents. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ashford, 37.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 5.9%, a higher share than 82% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Ashford, 31% and 26%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Ashford sits above 93% of UK towns for households with dependent children (35%)
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.
Against a figure of 30% across England’s towns, the share of one-person households in Ashford comes in at 26%. Households average 2.5 people. More shared households of unrelated adults than in 92% of UK towns: 4%. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%.
17% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 77% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Across England’s towns, 24% of households have no car or van; in Ashford, 18%. As a reference point, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Just over a fifth of households live in a detached house.
More residents born outside the UK than 90% of UK towns: 18%
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
Lower than in 93% of UK towns: 90% of residents have English as their main language. Most residents from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (7.8%) or in EU countries (5.4%). The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 21% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
Only 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Ashford
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: 77% of Ashford · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 2.3%. Just over two in five residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 60% of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%.
Ashford sits below 64% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (46%)
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
Ashford sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.6%, about the same as across England’s towns. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 2,104 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
28% of adults hold 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 Ashford, 28%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 31 in Brabourne Lees & North Romney to 46 in Kennington & Little Burton Farm
The town’s 11 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Kennington & Little Burton Farm is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Brabourne Lees & North Romney the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in Brabourne Lees & North Romney (51% of households).
Ranked by age, 17th youngest of 87 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Salford (29.8) and the oldest Paignton (48.4). Nearest to Ashford in age: Wythenshawe (37.2), Harlow (37.2), Burton upon Trent (37.5) and Chatham (37.6).
Ashford sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford | 82,143 | — | 37.2 | 15% | 35% |
| Finberry | 1,571 | 2 mi | 30.3 | 4.1% | 47% |
| Shadoxhurst | 1,009 | 3.2 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 26% |
| Wye | 2,064 | 4 mi | 49.1 | 29% | 25% |
| Brabourne Lees | 1,479 | 4.8 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 24% |
| Aldington | 1,280 | 4.8 mi | 43.3 | 22% | 33% |
| Bethersden | 1,008 | 5.1 mi | 50.8 | 28% | 24% |
| Challock | 1,089 | 5.4 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 31% |
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 Ashford’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. Ashford’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 82,803 people in 2021, against 82,143 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 Ashford’s residents
What is the population of Ashford?
The 2021 Census counted 82,143 people in Ashford’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 87,500 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ashford?
The median age was 37.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 91% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashford?
77% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashford?
42% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.3% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Ashford good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Brabourne Lees & North Romney (51% of households). Schools are on Ashford’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.