Photo: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 87% of UK towns: half of Higham is over 50.5
3.5% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. One-person households: just over a quarter of the total. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 54%, more than in 86% of UK towns. There were 1,102 households in Higham at the 2021 Census, home to 2,642 residents.
What the Census says about Higham’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Higham’s residents are under 50.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Higham at 2,400 in 2011 and 2,400 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 87% 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 growth than 87% of UK towns: Higham changed by ±0% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Higham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,400 people in 2011; 2,400 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+13%) and the 30 to 44 least (−11%).
29% of Higham is 65 or over, a higher share than 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Higham, 50.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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 96% of UK towns, at 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%.
6% of adults are full-time students (England’s towns: 7.9%). The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 75% of UK towns: 2.4 people 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.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (2.5%), Higham is above three fifths of UK towns. Still, just over a quarter of households have dependent children, fewer than in 63% of UK towns.
In Higham, 11% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 87% of UK towns
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 share of households without a car or van trails 74% of UK towns: 11%. By contrast, 34% of households live in a detached house, a higher share than in 64% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, households in terraced houses come to 24%.
Higham ranks below 56% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 97%
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 7.4% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK are more common here than in 53% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.2%).
33% said they have no religion, fewer than in 87% 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: 88% of Higham · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Higham, 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. On the census count, 88% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Adults who have never married make up 28% in Higham, less than in 81% 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 84 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. One in ten residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 64% of UK towns. The usual figure: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 27%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Higham’s adults: 27% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 113th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Keele is the youngest (20.6); West Chiltington the oldest (63.1). Nearest to Higham in age: Hurworth-on-Tees (50.5), Bawtry (50.5), North Petherton (50.5) and Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel (50.5).
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than Higham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higham | 2,642 | — | 50.5 | 29% | 26% |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 1.3 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% |
| Cliffe Woods | 2,689 | 2.1 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 31% |
| Rochester | 67,279 | 2.8 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Cuxton | 3,039 | 3 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 27% |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 3.2 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 43% |
| Gravesend | 58,105 | 3.5 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 34% |
| Cliffe | 2,531 | 3.5 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 31% |
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 Higham’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. Higham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,438 people in 2021, against 2,642 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 Higham’s residents
What is the population of Higham?
The 2021 Census counted 2,642 people in Higham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,400 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Higham?
The median age was 50.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Higham?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Higham?
33% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.9% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Higham good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Higham’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.