Photo: Thomas Grant · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Blean is over 52.3, older than 93% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Blean has 22%. The village had 1,327 residents in 579 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 1.4% of households live in a flat or apartment in the village. Lower than in 88% of UK towns: 33% of residents said they have no religion.
What the Census says about Blean’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Blean’s residents are under 52.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Below 98% of UK towns: 7.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 32% in Blean and 18% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
Fewer full-time students than 76% of UK towns: 4.2%
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Blean, 42% and 18%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 8.6%.
A larger share of shared households of unrelated adults than 83% of UK towns: 3.3%
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.
Households in Blean hold 2.3 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Meanwhile, fewer one-person households than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 28%. Against that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Only 5.9% of households live in a terraced house in Blean
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
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, 49% of households live in a detached house here. Households in terraced houses make up 24% across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 16%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 10% in Blean, more than in 76% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Nearly a tenth of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. On the census count, 97% of residents have English as their main language.
In Blean, 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more 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: 84% of Blean · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 84% here and 73% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (5.3%), Indian (2.4%) and Mixed or multiple (2.4%).
Fewer adults who have never married than 93% of UK towns: 25%
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
57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. The wider picture: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers: 9.8% of the total.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 41% of its adults qualified to degree level, Blean compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 16% hold no qualification (18%).
Blean is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blean | 1,327 | — | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 1.1 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 2.4 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
| Whitstable | 32,185 | 3.1 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 3.6 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Boughton under Blean | 2,274 | 3.8 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 28% |
| Chartham | 3,569 | 4.2 mi | 37.6 | 13% | 37% |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 4.9 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 40% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Blean’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 Blean’s residents
What is the population of Blean?
The 2021 Census counted 1,327 people in Blean’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Blean?
The median age was 52.3 at the 2021 Census. 7.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blean?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blean?
33% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Blean good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Blean’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.