Photo: Ken Brockway · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 91% of UK towns: half of Cranwell is under 37.2
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 0.8% of households live in a flat or apartment here. 6% of households have no car or van. Few places have as many residents with no religion: 45% here, more than in 77% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Cranwell’s population at 2,583, in 959 households.
What the Census says about Cranwell’s people
A town people move to
20% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns, and 1.5% gave a term-time address. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Cranwell’s residents are under 37.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 15% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
15% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 18%; Cranwell has 16%. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cranwell, 37.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 121 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Cranwell is a garrison town: service personnel living in barracks count as residents.
Cranwell sits above 99% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (20%)
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%.
The share of full-time students is 5.1%, against 7.9% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns: 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 27% of households in Cranwell are one person living alone
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Lincolnshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
28% of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). Locally, 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison.
More households in detached houses than 75% of UK towns: 40%
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
Just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Against that, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 79% of UK towns: 99%
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 largest groups were born in EU countries (3.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 9.3% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 68% of UK towns: 94%
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: 94% of Cranwell · Lincolnshire’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and African (0.5%). The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%. At 48%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 62% of UK towns.
6.9% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 97% 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
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Against that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: 38% of the total.
Degree-level qualifications reach 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Cranwell, 35% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 9.9% have no qualification at all (18%).
Of 219 UK towns its size (2,500 to 3,000 people), the 16th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest St Mary's Bay (60.8). Nearest to Cranwell in age: Hertford Heath (35.3), Avonmouth (35.9), Darenth (37.6) and Maple Cross (37.7).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Cranwell
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranwell | 2,583 | — | 37.2 | 16% | 28% |
| Leasingham | 1,552 | 1.9 mi | 59.5 | 40% | 15% |
| Sleaford | 18,028 | 3.5 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 28% |
| Ruskington | 5,650 | 3.5 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 21% |
| Greylees | 1,989 | 3.9 mi | 34.6 | 7% | 44% |
| Navenby | 3,165 | 5.2 mi | 52.5 | 31% | 23% |
| Metheringham | 3,524 | 7.7 mi | 49.9 | 28% | 23% |
| Heckington | 3,316 | 7.9 mi | 53.9 | 32% | 19% |
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.
- “Lincolnshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Lincolnshire (or England), summed the same way as Cranwell’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 Cranwell’s residents
What is the population of Cranwell?
The 2021 Census counted 2,583 people in Cranwell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cranwell?
The median age was 37.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 91% of UK towns. 15% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cranwell?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Lincolnshire’s towns. 6.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cranwell?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Cranwell good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cranwell’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.