Photo: Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0Gravesend is younger than 88% of UK towns: a median age of 38.3
By its share of households in detached houses (11%), Gravesend is below 93% of UK towns. Still, on households with dependent children, Gravesend sits higher than 91% of UK towns: 34%. Census day 2021: 58,105 residents and 22,632 households locally. Across Gravesend, 32% of households live in a terraced house.
What the Census says about Gravesend’s people
A mix of backgrounds
36% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 96% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (9.5%), Indian (8.7%) and African (5.7%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Gravesend’s residents are under 38.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 16% 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.
Since 2011, Gravesend has grown +9%, faster than 57% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Gravesend’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 56,800 people in 2011; 62,000 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 1,310 people. Change by age ran from +16% for the 30 to 44 to −5% for the 16 to 29.
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30–34 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 12% here, more than in 90% of UK towns. The wider picture: 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+
■ Gravesend, 38.3. 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.
Gravesend ranks above 86% of UK towns on full-time students: 6.1%
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, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Gravesend, 8.1%. Typically, 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.
Bigger households than 94% 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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.7%, about the same as across England’s towns. One-person households account for 28%.
Gravesend sits above 91% of UK towns for households in flats (25%)
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
Nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 22% in Gravesend. The wider picture: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 94% of UK towns, at 22%
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
In Gravesend, 86% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (8.8%), then in the Middle East and Asia (7%).
Only 64% of residents describe themselves as White British in Gravesend
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: 64% of Gravesend · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 3.7% of residents. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 31%, fewer than in 91% of UK towns. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48%, below 59% of UK towns.
In Gravesend, 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 79% 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
Some 1,602 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 45% here, fewer than in just over two thirds of UK towns. As a yardstick, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers: 8.7%, near enough the figure across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 27% of adults
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 Gravesend, 27%, and 21% have none, against 18%. A levels are as far as 16% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
From a median age of 36 in Singlewell to 48 in Higham & Shorne
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Higham & Shorne is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Singlewell the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Gravesend South & Coldharbour (40% of households).
Of 120 UK towns its size (41,000 to 78,000 people), the 28th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 54.4 in Lytham St Anne's. Nearest to Gravesend in age: Kirkby (37.9), Winchester (38), Rotherham (38.4) and Oldbury (38.4).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Gravesend
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravesend | 58,105 | — | 38.3 | 16% | 34% |
| Northfleet | 29,892 | 1.6 mi | 36 | 13% | 37% |
| Istead Rise | 3,398 | 2.1 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 25% |
| Tilbury | 14,187 | 2.6 mi | 32.5 | 9.6% | 44% |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 2.6 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 3.2 mi | 30.5 | 1.5% | 49% |
| Higham | 2,642 | 3.5 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 26% |
| Meopham | 4,349 | 3.6 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 26% |
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 Gravesend’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. Gravesend’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 59,788 people in 2021, against 58,105 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 Gravesend’s residents
What is the population of Gravesend?
The 2021 Census counted 58,105 people in Gravesend’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 62,000 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Gravesend?
The median age was 38.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 88% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gravesend?
64% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 22% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gravesend?
31% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.7% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Gravesend good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Gravesend South & Coldharbour (40% of households). Schools are on Gravesend’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.