Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 37.6: Chatham is younger than 90% of UK towns
Households with dependent children make up 34%, against 29% across England’s towns. 76,956 residents in 30,680 households: that is Chatham at the 2021 Census. The share of households without a car or van stands at 21%. More households in terraced houses than in 95% of UK towns: 41%.
What the Census says about Chatham’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Chatham’s residents are under 37.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
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.
Chatham changed by +6% from 2011 to 2024, behind 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chatham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 75,300 people in 2011; 80,100 in 2024.
Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 1,200 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+26%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−12%).
15% of residents are 65 or over, below 91% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 7.6% of residents. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Higher than in 88% of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chatham, 37.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A higher share of full-time students than 86% of UK towns, at 6.1%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 27% of Chatham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 27%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns. The census found that 8.9% of 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.
Larger households than 90% of UK towns: 2.5 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.
In Chatham, 28% of households are one person living alone, beside 30% across England’s towns. For Chatham, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 3.5%.
Only 14% of households live in a detached house in Chatham
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
Here 17% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. By way of comparison, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Above 87% of UK towns: 16% of residents were born outside the UK
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
92% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (7%) and in Africa (3.8%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 89% of UK towns: 75%
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: 75% of Chatham · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 45% in Chatham and 46% across England’s towns. Higher than in 66% of UK towns: 43% of residents said they have no religion. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (7.5%), African (5.1%) and Mixed or multiple (2.9%).
39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 86% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%; Chatham has 43%. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications reach 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Chatham’s adults: 24% with a degree-level qualification and 21% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns. A levels are the highest qualification of 17%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 32 in Chatham South East to 46 in Aylesford, Wouldham & Blue Bell Hill
The town’s 13 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Aylesford, Wouldham & Blue Bell Hill is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Chatham South East the youngest (median age 32). Families with children are most common in Chatham South East (44% of households).
Ranked by age, 18th youngest of 89 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 50.2 in Weymouth. Nearest to Chatham in age: Ashford (37.2), Burton upon Trent (37.5), Halifax (37.9) and West Bromwich (37.9).
6 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Chatham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham | 76,956 | — | 37.6 | 15% | 34% |
| Gillingham | 108,485 | 2.1 mi | 39.3 | 17% | 31% |
| Rochester | 67,279 | 2.3 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Burham | 1,293 | 2.9 mi | 48.8 | 24% | 23% |
| Cuxton | 3,039 | 3.5 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 27% |
| Eccles | 1,706 | 3.5 mi | 39.4 | 16% | 31% |
| Halling | 2,926 | 3.7 mi | 37.8 | 13% | 35% |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 4.3 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 43% |
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 Chatham’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. Chatham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 77,570 people in 2021, against 76,956 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 Chatham’s residents
What is the population of Chatham?
The 2021 Census counted 76,956 people in Chatham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 80,100 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chatham?
The median age was 37.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 90% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chatham?
75% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chatham?
43% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.1% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Chatham good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Chatham South East (44% of households). Schools are on Chatham’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.