Photo: Unknown author · CC BY 2.0A larger share of households in flats than 98% of UK towns: 39%
Households in detached houses: 10%, below 94% of UK towns. Here, just over four in five residents describe themselves as White British. The median age in Folkestone is 41.3, lower than in 73% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Folkestone was home to 51,987 people in 22,947 households.
What the Census says about Folkestone’s people
A town of flats
39% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 98% of UK towns. 28% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
A +5% change since 2011: slower than 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Folkestone’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 51,500 people in 2011; 54,000 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 740 more people. Change by age ran from +18% for the 65 and over to −12% for the 16 to 29.
Folkestone: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
19% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.2% of residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Folkestone, 41.3. 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.
5.2% of adults are full-time students, a share 67% of UK towns don’t reach
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 29% of Folkestone’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 26%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Folkestone: 36% of households are one person living alone, above 92% 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.
In Folkestone, 27% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Households here average 2.2 people each. Few places have as many shared households of unrelated adults: 3.7% here, more than in 89% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
More households without a car or van than 93% of UK towns: 28%
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 29% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. One household in 4 has no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK make up 15% in Folkestone, more than in 87% of UK towns
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (6.6%) and in EU countries (5.7%). At 92%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 90% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 89% of UK towns: 42%
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: 82% of Folkestone · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (6.2%), Mixed or multiple (2.6%) and Indian (0.6%). 45% of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 74% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Married adults and civil partners: 39%, a lower share than 94% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 1,546 residents. More adults who have never married than in 89% of UK towns: 40%. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 9.6%, from the figure across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 28%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Folkestone, 28%, and 19% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 36 in Folkestone Foord to 47 in Folkestone Central
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Folkestone Central is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Folkestone Foord the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Folkestone Foord (35% of households).
132 UK towns of 36,000 to 70,000 people: this is the 61st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Lytham St Anne's (54.4). Nearest to Folkestone in age: Hoddesdon (41.1), Wrexham (41.2), Beeston (41.4) and Trowbridge (41.4).
Folkestone sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Folkestone’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. Folkestone’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 52,275 people in 2021, against 51,987 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 Folkestone’s residents
What is the population of Folkestone?
The 2021 Census counted 51,987 people in Folkestone’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 54,000 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Folkestone?
The median age was 41.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 73% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Folkestone?
82% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Folkestone?
45% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Folkestone good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Folkestone Foord (35% of households). Schools are on Folkestone’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.