Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households in flats than 92% of UK towns: 26%
With a median age of 49.9, Herne Bay is older than 84% of UK towns. There were 11,242 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 24,873 residents. In Herne Bay, nearly a quarter of households have dependent children. Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Herne Bay has 40%.
What the Census says about Herne Bay’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 87% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. 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, Herne Bay has changed by +2%, slower than 74% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Herne Bay’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 24,000 people in 2011; 24,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+24%), the 0 to 15 group the smallest (−17%). The steepest year was mid-2012 to mid-2013, up 390 people.
More residents aged 65 and over than 87% of UK towns: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with 7.8% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. 9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Herne Bay, 49.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 57% of UK towns, at 8.3%
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%.
29% of Herne Bay’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Typically, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. In Herne Bay, 4.9% of adults are full-time students.
Herne Bay ranks above 88% of UK towns on one-person households: 35%
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.3% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%. There are 2.2 people in the average household.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 88% of UK towns: 11%
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
With households without a car or van at 22%, Herne Bay is ahead of 79% of UK towns on that count. Across the comparison, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
5.7% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 57% 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
Set against 90% across England’s towns, 98% of residents have English as their main language in Herne Bay. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%).
Above 63% of UK towns: 43% of residents said they have no religion
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 Herne Bay · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.5%). Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Herne Bay, 93%.
Herne Bay: 10% of residents give unpaid care, above 74% 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
For 834 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. On married adults and civil partners, Herne Bay sits lower than 70% of UK towns: 45%. Unpaid carers: 8.7% across England’s towns, for comparison. Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Herne Bay has 32%.
25% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Herne Bay, 22%, while 25% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 30 in Herne & Broomfield to 56 in Beltinge & Bishopstone
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Beltinge & Bishopstone is the oldest area, with 36% aged 65 or over; Herne & Broomfield the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Herne & Broomfield (59% of households).
12th oldest of 270 UK towns of 17,000 to 34,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Herne Bay in age: Great Bookham and Fetcham (49.7), Dronfield (49.9), Stourport-on-Severn (50.2) and Deal (50.3).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Herne Bay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herne Bay | 24,873 | — | 49.9 | 29% | 23% |
| Herne | 14,874 | 0.8 mi | 45 | 23% | 30% |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 4 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 40% |
| Whitstable | 32,185 | 4.2 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 4.6 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 5.6 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 6.3 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 6.4 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
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 Herne Bay’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. Herne Bay’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 24,581 people in 2021, against 24,873 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 Herne Bay’s residents
What is the population of Herne Bay?
The 2021 Census counted 24,873 people in Herne Bay’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,600 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Herne Bay?
The median age was 49.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Herne Bay?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Herne Bay?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Herne Bay good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Herne & Broomfield (59% of households). Schools are on Herne Bay’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.