Chainhurst Farmhouse · Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 17% of households in Chainhurst are one person living alone
With households without a car or van at 5.6%, Chainhurst is behind 98% of UK towns on that count. The share of unpaid carers stands at 12%. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 99% of UK towns. The village counted 241 residents and 88 households at the 2021 Census.
12% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: just over one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Across Chainhurst, nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over. The median age in the village is 45.4, higher than in 57% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6% in Chainhurst, less than in 97% 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%.
In Chainhurst, just over a third of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 17% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. At 6.2%, the share of full-time students is higher than in 86% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier 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 98% of UK towns: 2.7 people each 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: 3.4%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Locally, 31% of households have dependent children.
Chainhurst sits below 63% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (17%)
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
31% of households live in a detached house; across England’s towns the figure is 21%. Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. The share of households in terraced houses across England’s towns is 24%.
4.2% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 75% 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
The largest groups were born in Africa (1.7%) and in EU countries (1.3%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. On residents whose main language is English, Chainhurst sits higher than 77% of UK towns: 99%.
In Chainhurst, 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 78% 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: 98% of Chainhurst · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 1.7% of residents. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%. At 38%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 91% of UK towns don’t reach
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
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 15.
23% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of adults in Chainhurst (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 24% (England’s towns: 18%). 16% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Chainhurst are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chainhurst | 241 | — | 45.4 | 19% | 31% |
| Marden | 3,489 | 2.2 mi | 38.5 | 18% | 32% |
| Coxheath | 8,453 | 2.3 mi | 44.3 | 23% | 29% |
| Yalding | 1,549 | 2.4 mi | 46.5 | 22% | 28% |
| East Peckham | 2,144 | 3.9 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 29% |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 4.1 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 31% |
| Paddock Wood | 7,616 | 4.1 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Wateringbury | 2,248 | 4.2 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 26% |
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 Chainhurst’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 Chainhurst’s residents
What is the population of Chainhurst?
The 2021 Census counted 241 people in Chainhurst’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chainhurst?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chainhurst?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chainhurst?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Chainhurst good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chainhurst’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.