Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in detached houses: 12%, a lower share than 91% of UK towns
Half of Hoo St Werburgh’s residents are under 40.5, younger than in 78% of UK towns. There were 3,600 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 8,758 residents. Locally, 27% of households are one person living alone. The typical household size is 2.4 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns.
What the Census says about Hoo St Werburgh’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Hoo St Werburgh at 7,000 in 2011 and 10,200 in 2024, up 45%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 97% 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.
Faster growth than 97% of UK towns: Hoo St Werburgh changed by +45% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hoo St Werburgh’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,000 people in 2011; 10,200 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 470 people. The 0 to 15 age group moved most (+82%); the 45 to 64 group moved least (+18%).
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 67% of UK towns: 9.2%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, a fifth of residents are 65 or over here. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hoo St Werburgh, 40.5. 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.
4.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 67% 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%.
29% of Hoo St Werburgh’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
A larger share of households with dependent children than 80% of UK towns: 31%
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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 2.7%, Hoo St Werburgh is ahead of 67% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%.
12% of households have no car or van, below 69% 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 figure for households in terraced houses is 19% in Hoo St Werburgh and 24% across England’s towns. One household in every 8 has no car or van.
7.6% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 61% of UK towns don’t reach
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 newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are nearly a tenth of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.4%) and in Africa (2.1%).
Hoo St Werburgh sits above 77% of UK towns for residents with no religion (45%)
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: 89% of Hoo St Werburgh · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (3.4%), African (3%) and Mixed or multiple (1.5%). Hoo St Werburgh has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 69% of UK towns, at 89%. On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. In Hoo St Werburgh, 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners: 46%, a lower share than 61% 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
Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Across Hoo St Werburgh, 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
21% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 21% of adults in Hoo St Werburgh, 34% across England’s towns; 22% have no qualification, against 18%.
84th lowest median age among 482 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Hoo St Werburgh in age: Towcester (40.5), London Colney (40.5), Broughton (40.6) and Wendover (40.7).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Hoo St Werburgh
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoo St Werburgh | 8,758 | — | 40.5 | 20% | 31% |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 1.2 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 43% |
| High Halstow | 1,823 | 1.9 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 31% |
| Cliffe Woods | 2,689 | 2.7 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 31% |
| Gillingham | 108,485 | 3.5 mi | 39.3 | 17% | 31% |
| Cliffe | 2,531 | 3.6 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 31% |
| Rochester | 67,279 | 3.8 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Higham | 2,642 | 4.4 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 26% |
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 Hoo St Werburgh’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. Hoo St Werburgh’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,944 people in 2021, against 8,758 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 Hoo St Werburgh’s residents
What is the population of Hoo St Werburgh?
The 2021 Census counted 8,758 people in Hoo St Werburgh’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,200 people in mid-2024, 45% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hoo St Werburgh?
The median age was 40.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 78% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hoo St Werburgh?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hoo St Werburgh?
45% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Hoo St Werburgh good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hoo St Werburgh’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.