Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.040% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 94% of UK towns
The figure for households in detached houses is 13% in Faversham and 21% across England’s towns. The census found that 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 71% of UK towns. The town counted 20,941 residents and 9,066 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Faversham’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 46% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
Since 2011, Faversham has grown +16%, faster than 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Faversham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 19,400 people in 2011; 22,500 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2022: 820 more people. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+35%) and the 16 to 29 least (+3%).
Half of Faversham is under 43.8, younger than 55% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (10%), Faversham is above 57% of UK towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 22%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Faversham, 43.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Faversham sits above 85% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (11%)
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%.
Just over a third of Faversham’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across Faversham, 4.8% of adults are full-time students.
2.3 people per household, more than in 54% 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.
Households with dependent children account for 28%. 30% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 51% of UK towns.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 73% of UK towns: 20%
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
Flats are home to 15% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. One household in 5 has no car or van.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 55% of UK towns, at 6.9%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (3.6%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Faversham has fewer residents whose main language is English than 56% of UK towns, at 97%. Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 13%.
In Faversham, 47% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 86% 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: 91% of Faversham · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 91% of residents describe themselves as White British here. The usual figure: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 46%.
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Faversham has fewer married adults and civil partners than 75% of UK towns, at 44%. 623 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.3%.
31% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Faversham, 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 44 in Faversham East to 49 in Teynham & Badlesmere
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Teynham & Badlesmere is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Faversham East the youngest (median age 44). Families with children are most common in Faversham West (30% of households).
Among 273 UK towns of 15,000 to 28,000 people, the 132nd oldest
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 Bangor (26.4), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Faversham in age: South Normanton and Pinxton (43.8), Saffron Walden (43.8), Maesteg (43.8) and Shiney Row and Penshaw (43.9).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Faversham are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faversham | 20,941 | — | 43.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Boughton under Blean | 2,274 | 3.4 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 28% |
| Teynham | 3,128 | 3.7 mi | 39.7 | 20% | 30% |
| Eastchurch | 3,381 | 5.6 mi | 36.3 | 9.2% | 32% |
| Warden | 1,817 | 6.4 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 32% |
| Challock | 1,089 | 6.5 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | 6.7 mi | 38.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 6.7 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
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 Faversham’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. Faversham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 20,436 people in 2021, against 20,941 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 Faversham’s residents
What is the population of Faversham?
The 2021 Census counted 20,941 people in Faversham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 22,500 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Faversham?
The median age was 43.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Faversham?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Faversham?
47% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Faversham good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Faversham West (30% of households). Schools are on Faversham’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.