Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.033% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 97% of UK towns don’t reach
Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%; Margate has 35%. Two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Margate sits lower than 78% of UK towns: 85%. The town counted 63,315 residents and 28,144 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Margate’s people
A town of flats
33% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 97% of UK towns. 28% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Margate’s population moved +6% on 2011, less than in 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Margate’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 60,400 people in 2011; 63,800 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 age group moved most (+25%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−14%). No year added more people than mid-2014 to mid-2015: 900.
Margate: 23% of residents are 65 or over, above 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 9.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. What’s more, with a median age of 44.1, Margate is younger than 53% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 6.8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Margate, 44.1. 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.
4.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 64% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Margate, 27% and 27%. Here, 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 73% 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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 3.7% here is much the same as across England’s towns. At 26%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 65% of UK towns.
More households without a car or van than 93% of UK towns: 28%
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: 22% here and 24% across England’s towns. Across Margate, 18% of households live in a detached house. Every 4th household or so has no car or van.
More residents born outside the UK than 78% of UK towns: 11%
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
Residents whose main language is English: 94% here and 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 68% of UK towns, at 44%
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: 85% of Margate · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (6.8%), Mixed or multiple (2.7%) and African (0.8%). By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Margate sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 47%.
Margate: 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 78% 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
Set against 8.7% across England’s towns, 10% of residents give unpaid care in Margate. 2,363 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Margate’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 36 in Margate Town to 59 in Birchington
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Birchington is the oldest area, with 41% aged 65 or over; Margate Town the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Dane Valley & Northdown Hill (34% of households).
116 UK towns of 44,000 to 85,000 people: this is the 18th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Canterbury is the youngest (27.5); Christchurch the oldest (51.7). Nearest to Margate in age: Salisbury (43.8), Macclesfield (44.1), Tynemouth (44.3) and Washington (44.4).
Margate sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margate | 63,315 | — | 44.1 | 23% | 26% |
| Broadstairs | 25,780 | 2.8 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Ramsgate | 42,031 | 3.5 mi | 42 | 20% | 28% |
| Minster (Thanet) | 4,739 | 3.6 mi | 49 | 27% | 25% |
| Cliffs End | 1,284 | 3.7 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 24% |
| Sandwich | 4,258 | 7.8 mi | 54 | 33% | 19% |
| Ash (Dover) | 2,529 | 8.1 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Eastry | 2,388 | 9.7 mi | 51 | 28% | 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 Margate’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. Margate’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 63,613 people in 2021, against 63,315 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 Margate’s residents
What is the population of Margate?
The 2021 Census counted 63,315 people in Margate’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 63,800 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Margate?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 53% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Margate?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Margate?
44% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.9% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Margate good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Dane Valley & Northdown Hill (34% of households). Schools are on Margate’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.