Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0Royal Tunbridge Wells ranks above 98% of UK towns on households in flats: 39%
With a median age of 40.1, Royal Tunbridge Wells is younger than four fifths of UK towns. Census day 2021: 51,215 residents and 22,239 households in the town. On the census count, 18% of households live in a detached house. The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 77% in Royal Tunbridge Wells and 73% across England’s towns.
What the Census says about Royal Tunbridge Wells’s people
A town of flats
39% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 98% of UK towns. 20% 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.
A change of +7% since 2011 leaves Royal Tunbridge Wells behind 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Royal Tunbridge Wells’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 48,500 people in 2011; 51,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 950. Split by age, the 45 to 64 changed most (+19%) and the 16 to 29 least (−17%).
Below 86% of UK towns: 16% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.2%, against 12% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 35–39: 7.6% of residents. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Royal Tunbridge Wells, 40.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 13% in Royal Tunbridge Wells, more than in 94% 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%.
5% of adults are full-time students, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Royal Tunbridge Wells, 33% of households are one person living alone, more 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.
The figure for households with dependent children is 30% in Royal Tunbridge Wells and 29% across England’s towns. Across Royal Tunbridge Wells, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 72% of UK towns, at 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
The figure for households in terraced houses is 17% in Royal Tunbridge Wells and 24% across England’s towns. One household in 5 has no car or van.
19% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 92% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Royal Tunbridge Wells has 91%. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (8.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5.5%).
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 68% of UK towns: 47%
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: 77% of Royal Tunbridge Wells · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 2.6%. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Just over two in five residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%.
In Royal Tunbridge Wells, 7.3% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 94% 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
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Royal Tunbridge Wells comes in at 47%. Still, the town has more adults who have never married than 70% of UK towns, at 36%. The benchmark for unpaid carers across England’s towns: 8.7%.
46% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Royal Tunbridge Wells counts 46% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 12% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 37 in Tunbridge Wells Central to 46 in Tunbridge Wells South
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.
Tunbridge Wells South is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Tunbridge Wells Central the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Southborough West (43% of households).
Among 131 UK towns of 36,000 to 69,000 people, the 51st youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Lytham St Anne's (54.4). Nearest to Royal Tunbridge Wells in age: Yeovil (40), Havant (40), Bishop's Stortford (40.2) and Bridgend (40.2).
No nearby town is as young as Royal Tunbridge Wells
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Tunbridge Wells | 51,215 | — | 40.1 | 16% | 30% |
| Southborough | 9,632 | 1.5 mi | 41.9 | 17% | 33% |
| Rusthall and Langton Green | 7,783 | 1.8 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 32% |
| Pembury | 5,783 | 2.6 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 28% |
| Groombridge | 1,077 | 4.1 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 29% |
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | 4.5 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 31% |
| Leigh | 1,104 | 4.7 mi | 48.2 | 24% | 30% |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 4.9 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 31% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Royal Tunbridge Wells’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. Royal Tunbridge Wells’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 49,846 people in 2021, against 51,215 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells’s residents
What is the population of Royal Tunbridge Wells?
The 2021 Census counted 51,215 people in Royal Tunbridge Wells’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 51,700 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
The median age was 40.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Royal Tunbridge Wells?
77% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 19% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
41% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.6% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Royal Tunbridge Wells good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Southborough West (43% of households). Schools are on Royal Tunbridge Wells’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.