Photo: Danny Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 51: Sole Street is older than 89% of UK towns
Against a figure of 21% across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses in Sole Street comes in at 63%. Census day 2021: 988 residents and 392 households here. The census found that 3.1% of households live in a flat or apartment here. The village has fewer one-person households than 95% of UK towns, at 22%.
Sole Street sits above 89% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (29%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 85% of UK towns: 8.5%. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 94% of UK towns, at 3.5%
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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, 6.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Larger households than 91% of UK towns: 2.5 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.
3.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across England’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Sole Street.
Sole Street sits below 97% of UK towns for households without a car or van (6.4%)
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
With households in terraced houses at 8.4%, Sole Street is behind 92% of UK towns on that count. On top of that, every 16th household or so has no car or van.
A lower share of residents whose main language is English than 62% of UK towns, at 97%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%). Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Born outside the UK: 6.3% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns.
33% said they have no religion, fewer than in 88% 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: 88% of Sole Street · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Indian (4%), Other White (3%) and Mixed or multiple (1%). At 56%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is higher than in 83% of UK towns. Set beside that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Sole Street has 88%.
62% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
By its share of adults who have never married (23%), Sole Street is below 98% of UK towns. Unpaid carers: just over a tenth of the total. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
13% of Sole Street’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 35% have one at degree level (34%).
Sole Street and its 7 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sole Street | 988 | — | 51 | 29% | 28% |
| Meopham | 4,349 | 1.1 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 26% |
| Istead Rise | 3,398 | 1.8 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 25% |
| Shorne | 1,038 | 2.7 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% |
| Gravesend | 58,105 | 2.9 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 34% |
| Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley | 16,077 | 2.9 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 27% |
| Cuxton | 3,039 | 3.3 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 27% |
| Halling | 2,926 | 3.6 mi | 37.8 | 13% | 35% |
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 Sole Street’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 Sole Street’s residents
What is the population of Sole Street?
The 2021 Census counted 988 people in Sole Street’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sole Street?
The median age was 51 at the 2021 Census. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sole Street?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sole Street?
33% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Sole Street good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sole Street’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.