Photo: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0A young town: 14% of residents are 15 to 24
In Hadlow, 13% of households live in a flat or apartment, beside 23% across England’s towns. 3,168 residents in 1,275 households: that is Hadlow at the 2021 Census. Residents with no religion: 43% of the total. Households without a car or van are rarer here than in 65% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Hadlow’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Hadlow at 3,400 in 2011 and 3,300 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 95% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Slower than most: −4% since 2011, behind 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hadlow’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,400 people in 2011; 3,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+15%) and the 16 to 29 least (−14%).
A median age of 46.7: Hadlow is older than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, against 24% in Hadlow. 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+
■ Hadlow, 46.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Hadlow: 9.3% of adults are full-time students, above 96% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 8% here and 11% across England’s towns. 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 73% of UK towns: 2.4 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 share of one-person households trails 63% of UK towns: 28%. In Hadlow, 25% of households have dependent children. 2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 68% of UK towns.
Hadlow ranks below 58% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 26%
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 census found that a fifth of households live in a terraced house in Hadlow. 13% of households live in a flat, more than in 62% of UK towns; 26% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
In Hadlow, 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 54% 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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%). For comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. At 6.3%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in half of UK towns. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 11% (England’s towns: 21%).
Hadlow sits below 58% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (91%)
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 Hadlow · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and African (0.6%). Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here, fewer than in 60% of UK towns.
Hadlow ranks above 57% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 34%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%; Hadlow has 47%. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 91 residents. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 9.7%, more than in three fifths of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 31%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Hadlow counts 31% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 20% have no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 16%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 251st 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 West Chiltington (63.1), the oldest. Nearest to Hadlow in age: Dunchurch (46.7), Hawley (46.7), Rockwell Green (46.7) and Neyland (46.7).
4 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Hadlow
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hadlow | 3,168 | — | 46.7 | 24% | 25% |
| East Peckham | 2,144 | 2.4 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 29% |
| Plaxtol | 1,137 | 2.6 mi | 47.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 3 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 31% |
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | 3.1 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 31% |
| Hildenborough | 4,943 | 3.9 mi | 47.5 | 24% | 33% |
| Paddock Wood | 7,616 | 4 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Wateringbury | 2,248 | 4.1 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 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 Hadlow’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. Hadlow’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,385 people in 2021, against 3,168 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 Hadlow’s residents
What is the population of Hadlow?
The 2021 Census counted 3,168 people in Hadlow’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,300 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hadlow?
The median age was 46.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hadlow?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hadlow?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Hadlow good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hadlow’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.