Photo: M J Roots · CC BY 3.0A lower share of one-person households than 75% of UK towns, at 27%
The average household has 2.4 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. On the census count, half of adults are married or in a civil partnership. 14% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 60% of UK towns. Paddock Wood counted 7,616 residents and 3,214 households at the 2021 Census.
A growing town: +13% since 2011, faster than 72% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Paddock Wood’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,300 people in 2011; 9,400 in 2024.
Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 580 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+30%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (+6%).
Paddock Wood ranks above 77% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.6% of residents. With a median age of 44.9, Paddock Wood is older than 53% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s 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+
■ Paddock Wood, 44.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 66% of UK towns: 8%
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, 7.9% of adults are full-time students; in Paddock Wood, 4.6%. Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
More households with dependent children than 61% of UK towns: 28%
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.
Locally, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Paddock Wood ranks below 60% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 25%
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 share of households in flats is 12%, against 23% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 53% of UK towns.
7% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 56% 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
Of residents born abroad, 15% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. At 98%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in 55% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in Africa (1.5%).
Above 70% of UK towns: 44% of residents said they have no religion
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: 92% of Paddock Wood · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (0.6%). At 48%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 62% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. 92% of residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%).
32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 55% 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
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 8.4%. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 174 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Among adults, 28% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
18% of Paddock Wood’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 28% have one at degree level (34%).
262nd youngest of 538 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.9 in Red Lodge to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Paddock Wood in age: Fazeley (44.9), Farnham Common and Farnham Royal (44.9), Staplehurst (44.9) and Whitworth (45).
Paddock Wood sits below 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddock Wood | 7,616 | — | 44.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 1.6 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 31% |
| East Peckham | 2,144 | 2.4 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 29% |
| Horsmonden | 1,580 | 3.3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 30% |
| Pembury | 5,783 | 3.5 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 28% |
| Yalding | 1,549 | 3.8 mi | 46.5 | 22% | 28% |
| Hadlow | 3,168 | 4 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 25% |
| Marden | 3,489 | 4.5 mi | 38.5 | 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 Paddock Wood’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. Paddock Wood’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,164 people in 2021, against 7,616 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 Paddock Wood’s residents
What is the population of Paddock Wood?
The 2021 Census counted 7,616 people in Paddock Wood’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,400 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Paddock Wood?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 53% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Paddock Wood?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Paddock Wood?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Paddock Wood good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Paddock Wood’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.