Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Darenth is younger than 90% of UK towns: a median age of 37.6
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 80% of residents describe themselves as White British here. The 2021 Census counted 2,588 residents in 974 households. Across Darenth, 4.6% of households live in a detached house. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 84% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Darenth’s people
A town of families
35% of Darenth’s 974 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 94% of UK towns. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Darenth’s residents are under 37.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% 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.
Darenth’s population moved +1% on 2011, less than in 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Darenth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,700 people in 2011; 2,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2016 to mid-2017: 90. Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+13%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−15%).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 15% in Darenth, less than in 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 30–34: nearly one in ten residents. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 68% of UK towns. As a reference point, 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%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Darenth, 37.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 87% of UK towns, at 6.8%
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%.
The figure for full-time students is 4.5% in Darenth and 7.9% across England’s towns. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A larger share of households with dependent children than 94% of UK towns: 35%
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.
Households average 2.7 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The share of one-person households stands at 20%. Darenth has fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 54% of UK towns, at 2.3%.
11% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 75% of UK towns
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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 8.1% in Darenth. Every 9th household or so has no car or van.
10% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 74% of UK towns don’t reach
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in Africa (3.7%) and in EU countries (3%). On residents whose main language is English, Darenth sits lower than nearly two thirds of UK towns: 97%. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 8.7% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
42% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 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: 80% of Darenth · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (5.6%), African (5.5%) and Mixed or multiple (2.5%). The benchmark for residents with no religion across England’s towns: 37%. Lower than in just over half of UK towns: 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
A higher share of adults who have never married than 66% of UK towns, at 35%
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
Married adults and civil partners: 47% here and 44% across England’s towns. Darenth has more unpaid carers than half of UK towns, at 9.4%. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns.
25% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of adults in Darenth (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 20% (England’s towns: 18%).
219 UK towns of 2,500 to 3,000 people: this is the 17th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Keele (20.6), the youngest, and St Mary's Bay (60.8), the oldest. Nearest to Darenth in age: Avonmouth (35.9), Cranwell (37.2), Maple Cross (37.7) and Halling (37.8).
Nearby, 4 of 7 towns have older populations than Darenth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darenth | 2,588 | — | 37.6 | 15% | 35% |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone | 4,091 | 1.2 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 29% |
| Hawley | 1,386 | 1.4 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 31% |
| Bean | 1,633 | 1.5 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 30% |
| Stone | 6,438 | 1.8 mi | 35.7 | 8.5% | 34% |
| Horton Kirby | 1,247 | 2 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 28% |
| Dartford | 69,131 | 2.2 mi | 36.6 | 12% | 38% |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 2.6 mi | 30.5 | 1.5% | 49% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Darenth’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. Darenth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,786 people in 2021, against 2,588 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 Darenth’s residents
What is the population of Darenth?
The 2021 Census counted 2,588 people in Darenth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,700 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Darenth?
The median age was 37.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 90% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Darenth?
80% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Darenth?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Darenth good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Darenth’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.