Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Charing is older than 86% of UK towns: a median age of 50.3
Set against 24% across England’s towns, just over one in ten households have no car or van in Charing. The village counted 2,170 residents and 930 households at the 2021 Census. For Charing, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 55%. 25% of households have dependent children, a lower share than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Charing’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Charing’s residents are under 50.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
240 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 94% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
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.
50–54 is the most common age band: 8.3% of residents. Lower than in 75% of UK towns: 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. 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
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
5.2% of adults are full-time students, more than in 65% 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 or semi-routine work; Charing has 39% and 16%. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier locally.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 66% of UK towns: 2.7%
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.
The share of one-person households stands at 30%. The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 80% of UK towns: 13%
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Charing comes in at 13%. Households in detached houses account for 42%. The usual figure: 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Charing: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 89% 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
5.6% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 93%, a higher share than 57% 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: 93% of Charing · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (2.7%) and Indian (0.3%). At 37%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in three quarters of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%.
Charing ranks above 94% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 12%
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 Charing’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 50% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 78% of UK towns. Set beside that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
33% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 33% of adults in Charing, 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification, against 18%.
2 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Charing
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charing | 2,170 | — | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Challock | 1,089 | 3.6 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Lenham and Harrietsham | 4,763 | 5.2 mi | 43.5 | 24% | 29% |
| Ashford | 82,143 | 5.7 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 35% |
| Bethersden | 1,008 | 6.1 mi | 50.8 | 28% | 24% |
| Wye | 2,064 | 6.4 mi | 49.1 | 29% | 25% |
| Kingswood | 1,371 | 7.2 mi | 53.4 | 30% | 23% |
| Shadoxhurst | 1,009 | 7.2 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 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 Charing’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 Charing’s residents
What is the population of Charing?
The 2021 Census counted 2,170 people in Charing’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Charing?
The median age was 50.3 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Charing?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Charing?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Charing good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Charing’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.