Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 1.2% of households
Just over a fifth of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. Highsted had 411 residents and 164 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 48.4. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 28%. Households in detached houses are more common here than in 95% of UK towns.
Half of Highsted is over 48.4, older than 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (9%), Highsted is below nearly three quarters of UK towns. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Highsted: 5.2% of adults are full-time students, above 65% 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, just over two in five adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Just over one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, more than the 11% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 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 89% of UK towns: 2.5 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 households with dependent children trails 55% of UK towns: 27%. In Highsted, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Highsted sits below 96% of UK towns for households without a car or van (6.8%)
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
Households in terraced houses: 16%, below nearly two thirds of UK towns. One household in every 15 has no car or van.
In Highsted, 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 94% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
With residents born outside the UK at 5.6%, Highsted is behind 58% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Residents born abroad were most often born in Africa (2.4%), then in EU countries (1.7%).
Highsted: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 81% 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: 95% of Highsted · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (0.2%). Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 82% of UK towns. Compared with 37% across England’s towns, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion here.
62% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
Adults who have never married: 22%, below 98% of UK towns. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 10% of residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
31% of Highsted’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Highsted, 1 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highsted | 411 | — | 48.4 | 28% | 27% |
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | 1.7 mi | 38.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Teynham | 3,128 | 2.9 mi | 39.7 | 20% | 30% |
| Newington | 2,691 | 4 mi | 39.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 4.1 mi | 36.1 | 11% | 45% |
| Lower Halstow | 1,210 | 4.9 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 26% |
| Upchurch | 1,727 | 5.6 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 25% |
| Lenham and Harrietsham | 4,763 | 5.7 mi | 43.5 | 24% | 29% |
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 Highsted’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Highsted’s residents
What is the population of Highsted?
The 2021 Census counted 411 people in Highsted’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Highsted?
The median age was 48.4 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Highsted?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Highsted?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 3.7% didn’t answer.
Is Highsted good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Highsted’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). 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.