Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent. · CC BY 2.5Only 1.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Wateringbury
With adults who have never married at 28%, Wateringbury is behind nearly four fifths of UK towns on that count. 2,248 residents in 963 households: that is Wateringbury at the 2021 Census. Households without a car or van: 11% of the total. The median age in the village is 48.7, higher than in 78% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23%, a higher share than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 tops 87% of UK towns: 11%. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 88% of UK towns: 6.4%
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 Wateringbury, 41% and 17%. Measured more widely, 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.
Wateringbury sits below 60% of UK towns for households with dependent children (26%)
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 typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Here, 30% of households are one person living alone. To put it in context, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A village of detached houses: 39% of households live in one
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
Flats are home to 9.5% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%. Households in terraced houses: a fifth of the total.
Wateringbury: 7.4% of residents born outside the UK
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Wateringbury sits higher than three fifths of UK towns: 98%. 16% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
In Wateringbury, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 76% 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: 92% of Wateringbury · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (4.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.7%). The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 40% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%).
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 75% of UK towns, at 52%
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
For Wateringbury, the census puts unpaid carers at 9%. 28% of the village’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 52% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
33% of Wateringbury’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 19%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
Wateringbury is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wateringbury | 2,248 | — | 48.7 | 23% | 26% |
| Kings Hill | 9,963 | 1.4 mi | 40.1 | 12% | 47% |
| Yalding | 1,549 | 2 mi | 46.5 | 22% | 28% |
| West Malling | 4,251 | 3.1 mi | 39.1 | 19% | 31% |
| East Peckham | 2,144 | 3.2 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 29% |
| Larkfield | 26,147 | 3.4 mi | 42 | 20% | 32% |
| Coxheath | 8,453 | 3.8 mi | 44.3 | 23% | 29% |
| Hadlow | 3,168 | 4.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 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 Wateringbury’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 Wateringbury’s residents
What is the population of Wateringbury?
The 2021 Census counted 2,248 people in Wateringbury’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wateringbury?
The median age was 48.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wateringbury?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wateringbury?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Wateringbury good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wateringbury’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.