Photo: Brian Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Swanscombe is younger than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 35.4
A household here has 2.5 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Compared with other places, households in detached houses are scarce here: 7.3%, fewer than in 97% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 15,462 people lived in Swanscombe, in 6,254 households. In Swanscombe, 41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Swanscombe’s people
A town of families
36% of Swanscombe’s 6,254 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 95% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Swanscombe’s residents are under 35.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 11% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of flats
32% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 96% of UK towns. 18% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Swanscombe at 13,100 in 2011 and 15,900 in 2024, up 22%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 88% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Faster growth than 88% of UK towns: Swanscombe changed by +22% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Swanscombe’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,100 people in 2011; 15,900 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+43%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−8%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 390 more people.
Only 11% of residents are 65 or over in Swanscombe
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30–34 is the most common age band: 9.8% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. At 10%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 65% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Swanscombe, 35.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Above 73% of UK towns: 5.4% of adults are full-time students
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 or semi-routine work; Swanscombe has 33% and 24%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 10% in the town. The comparison figure for full-time students is 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.
More family households than 95% of UK towns: 36% in Swanscombe
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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults tops 78% of UK towns: 3.1%. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 29% across England’s towns. 28% of households are one person living alone.
Swanscombe sits above 96% of UK towns for households in flats (32%)
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 61% of UK towns: 18%. 39% of households live in a terraced house. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Below 88% of UK towns: 92% of residents have English as their main language
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (6.6%) and in Africa (5.3%). At 18%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 90% of UK towns. 17% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 71%, a lower share than 92% 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: 71% of Swanscombe · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (8.4%), African (7.7%) and Mixed or multiple (3.4%). On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% here, fewer than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Swanscombe has 42%.
Swanscombe ranks above 94% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 42%
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
344 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 91% of UK towns. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
17% of Swanscombe’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 31% have one at degree level (34%).
Of 354 UK towns its size (11,000 to 21,000 people), the 11th 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 Swanscombe in age: Patchway (35.1), Carterton (35.4), Brockworth (35.6) and Waltham Cross (36.4).
Median age: 5 of the 7 towns around Swanscombe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanscombe | 15,462 | — | 35.4 | 11% | 36% |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 1 mi | 30.5 | 1.5% | 49% |
| Stone | 6,438 | 1.1 mi | 35.7 | 8.5% | 34% |
| Bean | 1,633 | 1.5 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 30% |
| Northfleet | 29,892 | 2.4 mi | 36 | 13% | 37% |
| Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock | 23,589 | 2.5 mi | 34.3 | 6.1% | 45% |
| Darenth | 2,588 | 2.6 mi | 37.6 | 15% | 35% |
| Grays | 44,340 | 3 mi | 37.4 | 14% | 36% |
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 Swanscombe’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. Swanscombe’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,366 people in 2021, against 15,462 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 Swanscombe’s residents
What is the population of Swanscombe?
The 2021 Census counted 15,462 people in Swanscombe’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,900 people in mid-2024, 22% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Swanscombe?
The median age was 35.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 95% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 11% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swanscombe?
71% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swanscombe?
42% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.9% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Swanscombe good for families?
36% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Swanscombe’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.