Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 85% of UK towns: 35% of households are one person living alone
2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%. Census day 2021: 3,962 residents and 1,652 households in Cranbrook. In Cranbrook, 15% of households live in a flat or apartment. This Kent town has fewer unpaid carers than 78% of UK towns, at 8.3%.
What the Census says about Cranbrook’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Cranbrook at 4,100 in 2011 and 4,100 in 2024, down 1%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 89% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
−1% since 2011, a pace below 89% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Cranbrook’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,100 people in 2011; 4,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+21%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−12%).
24% of residents are 65 or over, a share 63% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 12%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. With a median age of 45.3, Cranbrook is older than 56% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cranbrook, 45.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
A student town: 7.1% of adults study full-time
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Cranbrook, 34% and 22%. Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 89% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 64% of UK towns
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.
29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, against 26% in Cranbrook.
Above 57% of UK towns: 17% of households have no car or van
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
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house here. One household in 6 has no car or van. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 65% of UK towns.
Cranbrook ranks above 71% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 9.3%
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Lower than in 56% of UK towns: 97% of residents have English as their main language. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 24% (England’s towns: 21%).
A lower White British share than 66% of UK towns: 89% of residents
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 Cranbrook · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 46% across England’s towns, 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Cranbrook. For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion account for 39%.
Married adults and civil partners make up 45% in Cranbrook, less than in 71% 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
For 110 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Against that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a lower share than in 54% of UK towns.
32% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
18% of Cranbrook’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 32% have one at degree level (34%). For 15%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
530 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people: this is the 205th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Cranbrook in age: Thaxted (45.3), Westerham (45.3), Chickerell (45.3) and Chirk (45.3).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Cranbrook
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook | 3,962 | — | 45.3 | 24% | 26% |
| Benenden | 1,409 | 2.7 mi | 29.7 | 18% | 25% |
| Goudhurst | 1,104 | 3.5 mi | 46.3 | 19% | 31% |
| Hawkhurst | 3,683 | 3.7 mi | 47 | 24% | 26% |
| Biddenden | 1,345 | 4.7 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 31% |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 4.9 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 31% |
| Horsmonden | 1,580 | 5.3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 30% |
| Marden | 3,489 | 5.6 mi | 38.5 | 18% | 32% |
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 Cranbrook’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. Cranbrook’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,011 people in 2021, against 3,962 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 Cranbrook’s residents
What is the population of Cranbrook?
The 2021 Census counted 3,962 people in Cranbrook’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,100 people in mid-2024, 1% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Cranbrook?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cranbrook?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 9.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cranbrook?
39% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 8.7% didn’t answer.
Is Cranbrook good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cranbrook’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. 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.