Photo: Paste at English Wikipedia · Public domainWhitstable is older than 90% of UK towns: a median age of 51.3
The share of households in terraced houses is 15%, against 24% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in 84% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 32,185 people lived in Whitstable, in 14,473 households. In Whitstable, 38% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Whitstable’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Whitstable’s residents are under 51.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
Whitstable’s population moved ±0% on 2011, less than in 84% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Whitstable’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 32,800 people in 2011; 32,800 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+24%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−18%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2012 to mid-2013, 430 people.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 29% in Whitstable, more than in 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Whitstable. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 8.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Whitstable, 51.3. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More full-time students than 55% of UK towns: 4.9%
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%.
By class, 37% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Against that, 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.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 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.
The share of one-person households tops 60% of UK towns: 31%. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are common here: 3%, more than in 77% of UK towns.
Households in flats make up 14% in Whitstable, more than in 67% of UK towns
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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Whitstable comes in at 16%. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Whitstable ranks above 66% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up nearly a tenth of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). More residents born outside the UK than in 50% of UK towns: 6.4%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 59% of UK towns, at 42%
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 Whitstable · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 73% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British in Whitstable comes in at 92%. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 49% here, fewer than in just over half of UK towns. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Indian (0.6%).
In Whitstable, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 73% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 938 residents. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 63% of UK towns. Unpaid carers make up 9.9%, against 8.7% across England’s towns.
33% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 33% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 49 in Whitstable West to 56 in Chestfield & South Tankerton
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.
Chestfield & South Tankerton is the oldest area, with 35% aged 65 or over; Whitstable West the youngest (median age 49). Families with children are most common in Whitstable Central & Tankerton (26% of households).
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 203 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Whitstable in age: Broadstairs (50.4), Felixstowe (51), Heswall (52.2) and Bridlington (52.3).
Whitstable sits below 1 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitstable | 32,185 | — | 51.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 3.1 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Herne | 14,874 | 3.9 mi | 45 | 23% | 30% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 4.1 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Herne Bay | 24,873 | 4.2 mi | 49.9 | 29% | 23% |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 5.2 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 5.2 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
| Boughton under Blean | 2,274 | 5.3 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 28% |
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 Whitstable’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. Whitstable’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,054 people in 2021, against 32,185 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 Whitstable’s residents
What is the population of Whitstable?
The 2021 Census counted 32,185 people in Whitstable’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 32,800 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Whitstable?
The median age was 51.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 90% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whitstable?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 6.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Whitstable?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Whitstable good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Whitstable Central & Tankerton (26% of households). Schools are on Whitstable’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.