Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.07.4% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 97% of UK towns
The figure for households with dependent children is 34% in Bexley and 29% across England’s towns. Still, half of the borough’s residents are under 39.5, younger than in 83% of UK towns. The borough counted 246,074 residents and 95,091 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone.
A +10% change since 2011: Bexley grew faster than 61% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bexley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 232,800 people in 2011; 256,400 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+19%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (±0%). Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 4,310, its biggest one-year gain.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11% in Bexley, more than in 87% 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%; Bexley has 17%. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 7.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bexley, 39.5. 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.
Below 69% of UK towns: 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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, just over a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For Bexley, the census puts full-time students at 7%. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 95% of UK towns: 2.6 people each on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against London and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 3.9%.
25% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 91% of UK towns don’t reach
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
In Bexley, 22% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 94% of UK towns, at 21%
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 50%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in Africa (6.5%), then in EU countries (6%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. At 90%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 91% of UK towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 64% in Bexley, less than in 95% 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: 64% of Bexley · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On religion, 34% answered “no religion” and 50% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. Besides White British, the main groups are African (9.4%), Other White (7.4%) and Indian (4.4%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 54% of UK towns.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 79% of UK towns: 37%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 5,764. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 46%, fewer than in 62% of UK towns. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns.
32% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 32% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 17%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 33 in Slade Green & Crayford Marshes to 45 in Bursted Wood
The borough’s 28 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bursted Wood is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Slade Green & Crayford Marshes the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Crossway Park (45% of households).
Of 46 UK towns its size (172,000 to 332,000 people), the 6th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.8 in Tower Hamlets to 41.8 in Southend-on-Sea. Nearest to Bexley in age: Havering (39.4), Sutton (39.4), Plymouth (39.6) and Bromley (41.2).
Nearby, 3 of 7 towns have older populations than Bexley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexley | 246,074 | — | 39.5 | 17% | 34% |
| Joyden's Wood | 4,912 | 2.9 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 27% |
| Greenwich | 288,117 | 3.4 mi | 35.3 | 10% | 32% |
| Dartford | 69,131 | 3.9 mi | 36.6 | 12% | 38% |
| Hextable | 4,100 | 4 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 26% |
| Purfleet-on-Thames | 5,881 | 4.6 mi | 32.7 | 5.1% | 41% |
| Swanley | 17,209 | 4.7 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Hawley | 1,386 | 4.7 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 31% |
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.
- “London” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in London (or England), summed the same way as Bexley’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. Bexley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 246,493 people in 2021, against 246,074 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 Bexley’s residents
What is the population of Bexley?
The 2021 Census counted 246,074 people in Bexley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 256,400 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bexley?
The median age was 39.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 83% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bexley?
64% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bexley?
34% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.9% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bexley good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Crossway Park (45% of households). Schools are on Bexley’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.