Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0In Pembury, 53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 79% of UK towns
Half of Pembury’s residents are over 47.2, older than in 70% of UK towns. The town’s 2,377 households held 5,783 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 37% of households live in a detached house. Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Pembury has 15%.
What the Census says about Pembury’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Pembury at 6,100 in 2011 and 5,800 in 2024, down 5%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 98% 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.
Slower growth than 98% of UK towns: Pembury changed by −5% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Pembury’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,100 people in 2011; 5,800 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+25%) and the 0 to 15 group least (−18%).
More residents aged 65 and over than 71% of UK towns: 25%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 7.9% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9.4% here, fewer than in 62% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over 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+
■ Pembury, 47.2. 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.
Only 8.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Pembury
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Pembury, 42% and 19%. Full-time students are more common here than in half of UK towns. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%.
Pembury households average 2.4 people, larger than in 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.
In Pembury, 28% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Here, 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. One-person households are rarer here than in 68% of UK towns.
Pembury sits below 66% of UK towns for households without a car or van (13%)
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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 13% in Pembury. Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%.
Pembury: 10% of residents were born outside the UK, above 75% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (3.5%) and in EU countries (3.4%). 96% of residents have English as their main language, a lower share than in 70% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 21% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 71% of UK towns: 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 Pembury · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Pembury has 51%. On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion: two fifths of the total.
29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 75% 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
120 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. At 8.8%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
35% of Pembury’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
Ranked by age, 244th oldest of 624 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Pembury in age: Coleford (47.2), Galleywood (47.2), North Baddesley (47.2) and Thirsk (47.3).
Pembury 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembury | 5,783 | — | 47.2 | 25% | 28% |
| Royal Tunbridge Wells | 51,215 | 2.6 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 30% |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 2.9 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 31% |
| Southborough | 9,632 | 3 mi | 41.9 | 17% | 33% |
| Paddock Wood | 7,616 | 3.5 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Rusthall and Langton Green | 7,783 | 4.4 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 32% |
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | 4.5 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 31% |
| Horsmonden | 1,580 | 4.5 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 30% |
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 Pembury’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. Pembury’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,783 people in 2021, against 5,783 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 Pembury’s residents
What is the population of Pembury?
The 2021 Census counted 5,783 people in Pembury’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,800 people in mid-2024, 5% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Pembury?
The median age was 47.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 70% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pembury?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pembury?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Pembury good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Pembury’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.