Photo: Ron Hann · CC BY-SA 2.0More family households than 96% of UK towns: 37% in Hawkinge
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Hawkinge, 22%. Households without a car or van: 9.6% of the total. With a median age of 41.1, Hawkinge is younger than nearly three quarters of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Hawkinge was home to 8,499 people in 3,252 households.
What the Census says about Hawkinge’s people
A town of families
37% of Hawkinge’s 3,252 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 96% of UK towns. 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
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.
Hawkinge grew +8% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hawkinge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,000 people in 2011; 8,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+81%), the 0 to 15 group the smallest (−15%). Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 170 people.
Hawkinge sits above 87% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (11%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with nearly one in ten residents. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 18%, fewer than in 80% of UK 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+
■ Hawkinge, 41.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 6.1% in Hawkinge, more than in 85% 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%.
By class, 36% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 8.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.6 people per household, more than in 95% 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.
Where 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, Hawkinge has 2.6%.
Fewer households in flats than 78% of UK towns: 6.1%
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
40% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 8.1%, a higher share than 64% 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 largest groups were born in EU countries (3.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.5%). Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. 97% of residents have English as their main language, a lower share than in 64% of UK towns. Of residents born abroad, 16% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
44% of residents said they have no religion, a share 68% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Hawkinge · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (2.2%) and Indian (0.6%). Lower than in 58% of UK towns: 91% of residents describe themselves as White British. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 51% in Hawkinge, more than in 69% 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
Across England’s towns, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Hawkinge, 32%. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. Census figures put unpaid carers at 9.9% here.
Among adults, 27% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Hawkinge, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 15% have no qualification at all (18%). A levels are as far as 21% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
85th youngest of 424 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Hawkinge in age: Shotton (40.9), East Leake (41), Billingshurst (41.1) and Linthwaite and Slaithwaite (41.2).
A younger town than 6 of the 7 around it: Hawkinge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawkinge | 8,499 | — | 41.1 | 18% | 37% |
| Folkestone | 51,987 | 2 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 27% |
| Capel-le-Ferne | 1,962 | 2.4 mi | 59.8 | 40% | 14% |
| Lyminge | 1,918 | 3.5 mi | 55.1 | 37% | 21% |
| Hythe | 14,613 | 4.6 mi | 55.5 | 35% | 19% |
| Dover | 36,349 | 5.9 mi | 40 | 18% | 28% |
| Sibertswold | 1,619 | 6 mi | 54.3 | 32% | 23% |
| Lympne | 1,074 | 6.4 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 22% |
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 Hawkinge’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. Hawkinge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,499 people in 2021, against 8,499 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 Hawkinge’s residents
What is the population of Hawkinge?
The 2021 Census counted 8,499 people in Hawkinge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,700 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hawkinge?
The median age was 41.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hawkinge?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hawkinge?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Hawkinge good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hawkinge’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.