Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0Westerham ranks above 85% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 31%
Here 18% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. Across Westerham, just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 20% here, fewer than in 60% of UK towns. 3,390 residents in 1,474 households: that is Westerham at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Westerham’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Westerham at 3,300 in 2011 and 3,300 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 86% 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.
±0% since 2011: slower than 86% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Westerham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,300 people in 2011; 3,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+32%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−16%).
Older than 56% of UK towns: half of Westerham is over 45.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 8.1% of residents. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 53% of UK towns: 9.9%. 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+
■ Westerham, 45.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 74% of UK towns, at 7.6%
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; Westerham has 40% and 18%. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. On the census count, 4.7% of adults are full-time students.
Westerham: 30% of households have dependent children, above 72% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.2%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. One-person households are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Average household size: 2.3 people.
Fewer households without a car or van than 71% of UK towns: 12%
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 in detached houses is 20%, against 21% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 24% across England’s towns.
Westerham sits above 54% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (6.8%)
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 (3.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. At 98%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 53% of UK towns. 14% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
42% said they have no religion, more than in 58% 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: 91% of Westerham · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (5.2%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Pakistani (0.4%). Westerham has more residents who describe themselves as Christian than 55% of UK towns, at 50%. On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married make up 33% in Westerham, more than in 56% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 59% of UK towns: 46%. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 81. Lower than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 8.8% of residents give unpaid care.
Qualified to degree level: 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
33% of Westerham’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000 people: this is the 287th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Milford on Sea the oldest (64.6). Nearest to Westerham in age: Thaxted (45.3), Almondsbury (45.3), Cranbrook (45.3) and Chickerell (45.3).
Of the 7 towns nearest Westerham, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westerham | 3,390 | — | 45.3 | 20% | 30% |
| Sundridge | 1,190 | 2.5 mi | 46.4 | 22% | 28% |
| Tatsfield | 1,379 | 2.6 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 30% |
| Limpsfield | 2,247 | 2.7 mi | 48.6 | 26% | 29% |
| Oxted | 11,491 | 3.3 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 33% |
| Marlpit Hill | 1,271 | 4 mi | 47.6 | 25% | 30% |
| Dunton Green | 3,241 | 4.6 mi | 36.3 | 12% | 34% |
| Edenbridge | 7,903 | 4.7 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 33% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Westerham’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. Westerham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,289 people in 2021, against 3,390 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 Westerham’s residents
What is the population of Westerham?
The 2021 Census counted 3,390 people in Westerham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,300 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Westerham?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Westerham?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Westerham?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Westerham good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Westerham’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.