Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0Sandwich is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 54
Households with dependent children: 19% here and 29% across England’s towns. On the census count, 35% of households are one person living alone. Sandwich has fewer adults who have never married than four fifths of UK towns, at 28%. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 4,258, in 2,016 households.
What the Census says about Sandwich’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Sandwich’s residents are under 54 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 33% in Sandwich, more than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with 8.9% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. For Sandwich, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.4%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sandwich, 54. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
Sandwich ranks above 66% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 9.5%
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%.
35% of Sandwich’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 4.8% of adults are full-time students in the town. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 92% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (England’s towns: 4.3%).
Sandwich ranks above 81% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 29%
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, a fifth of households live in a detached house in Sandwich. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison. For Sandwich, the census puts households without a car or van at 18%. The town has more households in flats than 54% of UK towns, at 12%.
More residents whose main language is English than 63% of UK towns: 98%
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
In Sandwich, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK, beside 18% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%).
In Sandwich, 53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 72% 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 Sandwich · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Bangladeshi (0.3%). For comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 40% of residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 58% of UK towns. Still, with residents who describe themselves as White British at 93%, Sandwich is ahead of 55% of UK towns on that count.
More unpaid carers than 76% of UK towns: 10%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%; Sandwich has 49%. Unpaid carers: 8.7% across England’s towns, for comparison. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 147 residents.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of Sandwich’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 18% have no qualification (18%).
Of 695 UK towns its size (3,000 to 6,000 people), the 50th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Sandwich in age: Heckington (53.9), Halesworth (54), Stokesley (54.2) and Arundel (54.2).
Every neighbour of Sandwich has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich | 4,258 | — | 54 | 33% | 19% |
| Eastry | 2,388 | 2.1 mi | 51 | 28% | 24% |
| Ash (Dover) | 2,529 | 2.5 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Cliffs End | 1,284 | 4.1 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 24% |
| Deal | 28,992 | 4.6 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 22% |
| Minster (Thanet) | 4,739 | 4.8 mi | 49 | 27% | 25% |
| Wingham | 1,313 | 5.2 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 25% |
| Ramsgate | 42,031 | 5.7 mi | 42 | 20% | 28% |
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 Sandwich’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Sandwich’s residents
What is the population of Sandwich?
The 2021 Census counted 4,258 people in Sandwich’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sandwich?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census, older than 95% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sandwich?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sandwich?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Sandwich good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sandwich’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). 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.