Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 17% of households in Tonbridge live in a detached house
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Tonbridge has 31%. Meanwhile, with a median age of 41.4, Tonbridge is younger than 73% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 36,136 residents in 15,007 households. For Tonbridge, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 84%.
Tonbridge’s population changed by +10% since 2011, more than in 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Tonbridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 34,700 people in 2011; 38,300 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +17% for the 30 to 44 to −5% for the 16 to 29. No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 640.
11% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
19% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Tonbridge, 41.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 79% of UK towns: 5.7%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Tonbridge has 39% and 21%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: nearly a tenth of the total.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 72% of UK towns: 2.4 people each 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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 2.8% in Tonbridge and 4.3% across England’s towns. The census found that 29% of households are one person living alone locally.
A larger share of households in flats than 85% of UK towns: 21%
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
Households without a car or van make up 19%, against 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 18% in Tonbridge. Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Residents born outside the UK: 12%, a higher share than 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
95% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (4.1%).
Residents with no religion: 44%, a higher share than 71% 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: 84% of Tonbridge · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (6.5%), Mixed or multiple (2.6%) and Indian (2%). Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% here, fewer than in three quarters of UK towns. As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 34%, a higher share than 58% 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
861 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Tonbridge has fewer unpaid carers than 69% of UK towns, at 8.7%. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners make up 48%, against 44% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 35% of adults in Tonbridge (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 15% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 38 in Tonbridge Town to 47 in Hildenborough
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Hildenborough is the oldest area, with 25% aged 65 or over; Tonbridge Town the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Tonbridge South & Haysden (34% of households).
198 UK towns of 25,000 to 49,000 people: this is the 89th 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 Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Tonbridge in age: Evesham (41.4), Trowbridge (41.4), Haywards Heath (41.4) and Witney (41.5).
Every nearby town is older than Tonbridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | — | 41.4 | 19% | 31% |
| Hildenborough | 4,943 | 1.4 mi | 47.5 | 24% | 33% |
| Leigh | 1,104 | 2.7 mi | 48.2 | 24% | 30% |
| Hadlow | 3,168 | 3.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 25% |
| Southborough | 9,632 | 3.2 mi | 41.9 | 17% | 33% |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 3.5 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 31% |
| Plaxtol | 1,137 | 4.2 mi | 47.2 | 20% | 31% |
| Pembury | 5,783 | 4.5 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 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 Tonbridge’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. Tonbridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 37,216 people in 2021, against 36,136 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 Tonbridge’s residents
What is the population of Tonbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 36,136 people in Tonbridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 38,300 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Tonbridge?
The median age was 41.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 73% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Tonbridge?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tonbridge?
44% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Tonbridge good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Tonbridge South & Haysden (34% of households). Schools are on Tonbridge’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.