Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats make up 2.6% in Grain, less than in 95% of UK towns
The share of households without a car or van trails 84% of UK towns: 9.7%. One-person households account for 23%. Few places have as many households with dependent children: 32% here, more than in 83% of UK towns. Grain is home to 1,728 residents in 653 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Grain’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% 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).
Grain is younger than 73% of UK towns: a median age of 41.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 5–9: 7.4% of residents. Lower than in 77% of UK towns: 18% of residents are 65 or over. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year: 5.3%, a lower share than 99% of UK towns
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 fifth of Grain’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. On full-time students, Grain sits lower than just over four fifths of UK towns: 4.1%. Across England’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Bigger households than 97% of UK towns: 2.6 people each on average
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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 2.9% in Grain and 4.3% across England’s towns.
Grain ranks above 80% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 29%
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
The figure for households in detached houses is 18% in Grain and 21% across England’s towns. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 56% of UK towns: 5.8%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English make up 98%, against 90% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
In Grain, 49% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 91% 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: 93% of Grain · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. For Grain, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 93%.
Grain sits above 77% of UK towns for unpaid carers (10%)
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
By its share of adults who have never married (33%), Grain is above 55% of UK towns. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in just over three fifths of UK towns. For unpaid carers, the comparison across England’s towns is 8.7%. 58 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Degree-level qualifications reach 17% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Grain counts 17% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 24% have no qualification (18%).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Grain
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain | 1,728 | — | 41.4 | 18% | 32% |
| Sheerness | 13,253 | 2.5 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 35% |
| Allhallows | 1,684 | 3.1 mi | 49.2 | 28% | 24% |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 3.2 mi | 35.8 | 16% | 33% |
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | 3.4 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 26% |
| Minster (Swale) | 16,735 | 4.6 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 27% |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 5.5 mi | 36.1 | 11% | 45% |
| Lower Halstow | 1,210 | 6 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 26% |
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 Grain’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 Grain’s residents
What is the population of Grain?
The 2021 Census counted 1,728 people in Grain’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Grain?
The median age was 41.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Grain?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Grain?
49% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Grain good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Grain’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.