Photo: Penny Mayes · CC BY-SA 2.010% of households live in a terraced house, below 88% of UK towns
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 8.4%, against 12% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Sholden was home to 934 people in 387 households. Adults who have never married: just over a quarter of the total. One-person households are rarer here than in nearly four fifths of UK towns.
Sholden sits above 64% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (24%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 5–9 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Half of Sholden’s residents are under 44.2, younger than in 52% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
In Sholden, 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 70% 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%.
7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns, against 4.5% in Sholden. Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 79% of UK towns: 1.8%
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.
31% of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). A household here holds 2.4 people on average. To put it in context, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
In Sholden, 6.3% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 76% of UK towns
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
Detached houses are home to 39% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 11% of the total. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Sholden sits above 80% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). More residents born outside the UK than in 52% of UK towns: 6.6%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%.
45% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 78% 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: 94% of Sholden · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 94%, against 73% across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here, fewer than in 62% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.4%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 52% in Sholden, more than in 73% 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
Here one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. 27 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Among adults, 30% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of Sholden’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification (18%).
Every neighbour of Sholden has an older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sholden | 934 | — | 44.2 | 24% | 31% |
| Deal | 28,992 | 0.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 22% |
| Kingsdown | 1,687 | 2.9 mi | 60.8 | 41% | 17% |
| Eastry | 2,388 | 3.4 mi | 51 | 28% | 24% |
| Sandwich | 4,258 | 3.7 mi | 54 | 33% | 19% |
| Eythorne | 1,487 | 4.8 mi | 51.6 | 25% | 22% |
| St Margaret's at Cliffe | 2,399 | 5 mi | 57 | 36% | 18% |
| Ash (Dover) | 2,529 | 5.6 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 26% |
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 Sholden’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 Sholden’s residents
What is the population of Sholden?
The 2021 Census counted 934 people in Sholden’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sholden?
The median age was 44.2 at the 2021 Census. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sholden?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sholden?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Sholden good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sholden’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.