Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.017% of households live in a detached house, below 81% of UK towns
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 27% of households are one person living alone here. The census found that nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Sturry. 88% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 72% of UK towns. There were 2,022 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 4,857 residents.
Sturry changed by +3% from 2011 to 2024, behind 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sturry’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,400 people in 2011; 4,500 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2020 to mid-2021, up 120 people. Change by age ran from +13% for the 30 to 44 to −8% for the 16 to 29.
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 69% of UK towns: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 6.9% of residents. With a median age of 44.7, Sturry is older than just over half of UK towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sturry, 44.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Sturry: 5.9% of adults are full-time students, above 83% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Sturry, 31% and 26%. 8.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 56% of UK towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Sturry households average 2.4 people, larger than in 70% 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.
In Sturry, 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns. 27% of households have dependent children.
Below 73% of UK towns: 15% of households live in a terraced 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
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Measured more widely, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. For Sturry, the census puts households without a car or van at 16%.
9.5% born outside the UK, more than in 72% 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
Residents whose main language is English: 96%, below 69% of UK towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.6%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%.
Sturry ranks above 63% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 52%
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 Sturry · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Sturry, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4.9%), Mixed or multiple (2.3%) and Chinese (1.1%).
9.9% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 64% 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
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 49% in Sturry. At 50 hours or more a week, 161 people give unpaid care. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 33%, more than in 51% of UK towns.
31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Sturry’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 31% have one at degree level (34%).
293rd youngest of 810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Sturry in age: Wollaston (44.7), Newent (44.7), Whitfield (44.7) and Milford and Witley (44.7).
Sturry sits below 4 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturry | 4,857 | — | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 1.5 mi | 34.5 | 13% | 40% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 2.4 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
| Littlebourne | 1,596 | 2.6 mi | 49.4 | 28% | 26% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 3.4 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 3.6 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Herne | 14,874 | 3.8 mi | 45 | 23% | 30% |
| Bridge | 1,539 | 4 mi | 52.6 | 32% | 25% |
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 Sturry’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. Sturry’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,584 people in 2021, against 4,857 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 Sturry’s residents
What is the population of Sturry?
The 2021 Census counted 4,857 people in Sturry’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,500 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sturry?
The median age was 44.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 51% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sturry?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 9.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sturry?
39% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Sturry good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sturry’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. 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.