Photo: Nick Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Broad Oak is over 55.4, older than 97% of UK towns
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Broad Oak comes in at 3.8%. Locally, a fifth of households have dependent children. The village has more residents who describe themselves as Christian than 89% of UK towns, at 57%. At the 2021 Census Broad Oak was home to 836 people in 399 households.
Above 97% of UK towns: 35% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 70–74: 8.9% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. On the census count, 7.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 2.9% of adults are full-time students in Broad Oak
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%.
In Broad Oak, 30% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 8.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in the village. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 92% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.8% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. Just over a third of households are one person living alone.
Few flats: only 2% of households in Broad Oak live in one
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
Households without a car or van make up 14%, against 24% across England’s towns. The share of households in flats across England’s towns is 23%. 37% of households live in a detached house.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 74% of UK towns: 96%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.4%). Measured more widely, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. More residents born outside the UK than in 58% of UK towns: 7.3%.
Broad Oak sits below 90% of UK towns for residents with no religion (32%)
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: 89% of Broad Oak · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 1.6% of residents. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than in 67% of UK towns: 89%.
Below 97% of UK towns: 23% 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
Here 11% of residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. Across the comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The census found that 54% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Broad Oak.
28% 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 Broad Oak, 28%, and 25% have none, against 18%.
Every nearby town is younger than Broad Oak
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad Oak | 836 | — | 55.4 | 35% | 20% |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 0.8 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 2.1 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 40% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 2.3 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 2.9 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 2.9 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Herne | 14,874 | 3.4 mi | 45 | 23% | 30% |
| Littlebourne | 1,596 | 3.4 mi | 49.4 | 28% | 26% |
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 Broad Oak’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 Broad Oak’s residents
What is the population of Broad Oak?
The 2021 Census counted 836 people in Broad Oak’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Broad Oak?
The median age was 55.4 at the 2021 Census. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Broad Oak?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 7.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Broad Oak?
32% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Broad Oak good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Broad Oak’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.