Photo: G Laird · CC BY-SA 2.0Smarden sits below 99% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (6.9%)
In Smarden, a third of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 664 residents and 271 households locally. Across Smarden, 7.7% of households have no car or van. 4% of households live in a flat or apartment, a lower share than in 88% of UK towns.
Half of Smarden is over 47.6, older than 72% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 23% in Smarden.
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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns, at 4.7%
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%.
5.7% of adults are full-time students, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person households: 25%, a lower share than 87% 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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%. A household here holds 2.4 people on average. Households with dependent children are more common here than in 71% of UK towns.
Above 56% of UK towns: 31% of households live in a detached house
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 terraced houses stands at 20%. 4% of households live in a flat, less than in 88% of UK towns; 31% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Only 4.2% of residents were born outside the UK in Smarden
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
The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%) and in Africa (1.2%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. More residents whose main language is English than in 69% of UK towns: 98%.
59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 95% of Smarden · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 95%, against 73% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and African (0.5%).
Smarden sits above 96% of UK towns for unpaid carers (12%)
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
The figure for adults who have never married is 28% in Smarden and 39% across England’s towns. For comparison, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Across Smarden, 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Degree-level qualifications: 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Smarden, 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification, against 18%.
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Smarden
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smarden | 664 | — | 47.6 | 23% | 30% |
| Headcorn | 3,293 | 2.9 mi | 45.2 | 25% | 29% |
| Biddenden | 1,345 | 3.2 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 31% |
| Bethersden | 1,008 | 3.3 mi | 50.8 | 28% | 24% |
| Tenterden | 7,775 | 5.2 mi | 54.4 | 35% | 20% |
| Kingswood | 1,371 | 5.9 mi | 53.4 | 30% | 23% |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 6 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 31% |
| Sutton Valence | 1,457 | 6 mi | 45.8 | 21% | 28% |
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 Smarden’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 Smarden’s residents
What is the population of Smarden?
The 2021 Census counted 664 people in Smarden’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Smarden?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census. 6.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Smarden?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Smarden?
33% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Smarden good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Smarden’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.