Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.046% of households live in a detached house, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Minster (Swale), 2.4. Meanwhile, this Kent town has fewer one-person households than 84% of UK towns, at 25%. In 2021, the Census found 16,735 residents in the town, living in 6,818 households. Here, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care.
What the Census says about Minster (Swale)’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Minster (Swale) at 14,800 in 2011 and 17,800 in 2024, up 20%, against 10% for England: faster 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.
Minster (Swale) grew +20% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 87% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Minster (Swale)’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,800 people in 2011; 17,800 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+42%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (+2%). The steepest year was mid-2015 to mid-2016, up 420 people.
Half of Minster (Swale) is over 45.8, older than 60% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 8.2% of residents. At 23%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 60% of UK towns. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Minster (Swale), 45.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.1% of adults are full-time students, below 82% 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%.
27% of Minster (Swale)’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Minster (Swale), the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 7.6%.
Minster (Swale) sits above 87% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (3.6%)
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.
For Minster (Swale), the census puts households with dependent children at 27%. Across England’s towns, shared households of unrelated adults come to 4.3%.
Few flats: only 6.9% of households in Minster (Swale) live in one
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
By its share of households in terraced houses (16%), Minster (Swale) is below nearly two thirds of UK towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 12%. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 4.6% in Minster (Swale), less than in 70% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
9.5% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. In Minster (Swale), 98% of residents have English as their main language.
In Minster (Swale), 44% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 71% 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: 93% of Minster (Swale) · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British in Minster (Swale). Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and African (1.1%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 49%, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
In Minster (Swale), 49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 59% 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
With adults who have never married at 31%, Minster (Swale) is behind 56% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 645.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 19%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 19% of its adults qualified to degree level, Minster (Swale) compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 24% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 38 in Minster South to 53 in Minster North
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Minster North is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Minster South the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Minster South (34% of households).
Of 336 UK towns its size (12,000 to 23,000 people), the 112th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Minster (Swale) in age: Market Drayton (45.8), Oswestry (45.8), Skipton (45.9) and Haydock (45.9).
Minster (Swale) is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minster (Swale) | 16,735 | — | 45.8 | 23% | 27% |
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | 1.4 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 26% |
| Sheerness | 13,253 | 2.1 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 35% |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 2.3 mi | 35.8 | 16% | 33% |
| Eastchurch | 3,381 | 2.8 mi | 36.3 | 9.2% | 32% |
| Warden | 1,817 | 4.4 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 32% |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 4.5 mi | 36.1 | 11% | 45% |
| Grain | 1,728 | 4.6 mi | 41.4 | 18% | 32% |
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 Minster (Swale)’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. Minster (Swale)’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 17,389 people in 2021, against 16,735 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 Minster (Swale)’s residents
What is the population of Minster (Swale)?
The 2021 Census counted 16,735 people in Minster (Swale)’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 17,800 people in mid-2024, 20% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Minster (Swale)?
The median age was 45.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 60% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Minster (Swale)?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Minster (Swale)?
44% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Minster (Swale) good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Minster South (34% of households). Schools are on Minster (Swale)’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.