Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 93% of UK towns: 11% of households live in a detached house
Households with dependent children make up 32%, against 29% across England’s towns. Swanley is home to 17,209 residents in 6,952 households, by the 2021 Census. Nearly four in five residents describe themselves as White British. With a median age of 39.2, Swanley is younger than 84% of UK towns.
+14% since 2011, a pace 74% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Swanley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,300 people in 2011; 18,600 in 2024.
By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+27%) and the 45 to 64 group least (±0%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 480 people.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 70% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 18%. The largest age band is 30–34: 7.4% of residents. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Swanley, 39.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 82% of UK towns: 7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Swanley, 30% and 25%. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. 5.1% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Swanley households average 2.5 people, larger than in 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.
By its share of one-person households (27%), Swanley is below 73% of UK towns. On the census count, 2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More households in flats than 80% of UK towns: 19%
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 without a car or van tops 67% of UK towns: 19%. 29% of households live in a terraced house, a higher share than in 80% of UK towns. Against that, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
13% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 81% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4.6%) or in Africa (3.2%). Residents whose main language is English are rarer here than in 80% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for just over one in ten residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
In Swanley, 43% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 64% 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: 79% of Swanley · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (6.3%), African (4.2%) and Mixed or multiple (2.8%). At 47%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 66% of UK towns. The share of residents with no religion across England’s towns is 37%.
Swanley ranks above 75% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 37%
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
Married people and civil partners make up 45% of adults, against 44% across England’s towns. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 9.7% here, more than in 61% of UK towns. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 577 people.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 26% of Swanley’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 23% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 39 in Swanley West to 41 in Swanley East & Hextable
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Swanley East & Hextable is the oldest area, with 20% aged 65 or over; Swanley West the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Swanley East & Hextable (33% of households).
336 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people: this is the 32nd youngest
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Swanley in age: Wednesbury (39.1), Goole (39.2), Chigwell (39.3) and Chertsey (39.3).
Every neighbour of Swanley 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanley | 17,209 | — | 39.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Crockenhill | 1,569 | 1.2 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 24% |
| Hextable | 4,100 | 1.2 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 26% |
| Joyden's Wood | 4,912 | 1.9 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 27% |
| Farningham | 1,279 | 2.6 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 28% |
| Hawley | 1,386 | 2.8 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 31% |
| Eynsford | 1,676 | 2.8 mi | 51.3 | 27% | 23% |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone | 4,091 | 3.2 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 29% |
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 Swanley’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. Swanley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 17,820 people in 2021, against 17,209 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 Swanley’s residents
What is the population of Swanley?
The 2021 Census counted 17,209 people in Swanley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,600 people in mid-2024, 14% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Swanley?
The median age was 39.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swanley?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swanley?
43% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.8% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Swanley good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Swanley East & Hextable (33% of households). Schools are on Swanley’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.