Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of one-person households than 95% of UK towns: 22%
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Lower Higham comes in at 4.4%. Here, 8.4% of households have no car or van. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 91% of UK towns. The village is home to 685 residents in 274 households, by the 2021 Census.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 61% of UK towns: 20%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.7% of residents. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. With a median age of 44.7, Lower Higham is older than 51% 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.
Lower Higham ranks below 86% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.9%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 6.6%, below 91% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Lower Higham households average 2.5 people, larger than in 89% 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.
Nothing unusual on households with dependent children: 29%, close to the figure across England’s towns. On the census count, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Fewer households in detached houses than 73% of UK towns: 20%
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
22% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Only 97% of residents have English as their main language in Lower Higham
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 5.3%, Lower Higham is behind just over three fifths of UK towns on that count. Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%).
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 69% of UK towns, at 88%
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 Lower Higham · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.9%), Indian (2.3%) and Mixed or multiple (2.3%). As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Lower Higham sits higher than three fifths of UK towns: 51%. At the same time, the figure for residents with no religion is 38% in Lower Higham and 37% across England’s towns.
Lower Higham sits above 67% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (51%)
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
31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Here, 9.8% of residents give unpaid care.
28% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 28% of its adults qualified to degree level, Lower Higham compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 18% hold no qualification (18%).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Lower 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Higham | 685 | — | 44.7 | 20% | 29% |
| Higham | 2,642 | 0.8 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 26% |
| Cliffe Woods | 2,689 | 1.5 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 31% |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 1.9 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% |
| Cliffe | 2,531 | 2.7 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 31% |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 2.9 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 43% |
| Rochester | 67,279 | 3.3 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Gravesend | 58,105 | 3.6 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 34% |
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 Lower Higham’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 Lower Higham’s residents
What is the population of Lower Higham?
The 2021 Census counted 685 people in Lower Higham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Lower Higham?
The median age was 44.7 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lower Higham?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 5.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lower Higham?
38% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 7.2% didn’t answer.
Is Lower Higham good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lower 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). 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.