Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of one-person households than 96% of UK towns: 22%
Households in Cliffe hold 2.6 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). By contrast, the town has fewer households without a car or van than 94% of UK towns, at 7.3%. At the 2021 Census, 2,531 people lived here, in 986 households. Locally, 28% of households live in a terraced house.
Half of Cliffe is under 42.9, younger than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 12%. Nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 71% of UK towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.3% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cliffe, 42.9. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Below 99% of UK towns: 5.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
By class, 28% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Compared with other places, full-time students are common here: 5.1%, more than in 61% of UK towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten 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.
Cliffe ranks below 78% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 1.8%
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.
Families with dependent children are 31% of households (England’s towns 29%), and 10% are someone 66 or over living alone (Kent’s towns 13%). For shared households of unrelated adults, the comparison across England’s towns is 4.3%.
A lower share of households in flats than 78% of UK towns, at 6.1%
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 nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%.
Cliffe sits below 80% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.8%)
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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Cliffe has 99%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.5%) or in Africa (1.2%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
No religion: 43% of residents, a higher share than 65% 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: 92% of Cliffe · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Mixed or multiple (2.4%), Other White (2.1%) and Indian (1%). Set beside that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Cliffe sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 92%. 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%.
In Cliffe, 50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 64% of UK towns
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
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 8.7%. Just over a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
21% 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 21% of Cliffe’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 18% have no qualification (18%).
Of 219 UK towns its size (2,500 to 3,000 people), the 51st youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 60.8 in St Mary's Bay. Nearest to Cliffe in age: Long Itchington (42.8), Grimsargh (42.9), Shevington Moor (43) and Cheswick Green (43.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Cliffe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliffe | 2,531 | — | 42.9 | 19% | 31% |
| Cliffe Woods | 2,689 | 1.9 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 31% |
| High Halstow | 1,823 | 2.9 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 31% |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 3.1 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 43% |
| Higham | 2,642 | 3.5 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 26% |
| Hoo St Werburgh | 8,758 | 3.6 mi | 40.5 | 20% | 31% |
| East Tilbury | 5,751 | 4 mi | 33.8 | 11% | 43% |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 4.6 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% |
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 Cliffe’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 Cliffe’s residents
What is the population of Cliffe?
The 2021 Census counted 2,531 people in Cliffe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cliffe?
The median age was 42.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cliffe?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cliffe?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Cliffe good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cliffe’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.