Photo: Robert Lamb · CC BY-SA 2.0Brent is younger than 94% of UK towns: a median age of 35.9
The share of households in detached houses trails 98% of UK towns: 6%. Meanwhile, just over a third of households have dependent children, a higher share than in 91% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 340,611 residents and 118,964 households in Brent. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 9.3%.
What the Census says about Brent’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in London
56% of residents were born outside the UK, against 41% across London and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (22%) and in EU countries (16%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
85% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 99% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (19%), Indian (19%) and African (9.1%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Brent’s residents are under 35.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A borough of flats
57% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 44% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Brent’s population changed by +13% since 2011, more than in 71% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brent’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 312,200 people in 2011; 353,000 in 2024.
Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 7,250 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+31%) and the 30 to 44 group least (+4%).
In Brent, 12% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a higher share than in 95% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brent, 35.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 97% of UK towns: 11%
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%.
In Brent, 28% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 13% of residents had moved in within the year before the Census, more than the 11% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.8 people per household, more than in 99% of UK towns
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.
One-person households make up 27%, against 30% across England’s towns.
57% of households live in a flat, more than in 99% 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 Brent comes in at 44%. The share of households in flats across England’s towns is 23%. 15% of households live in a terraced house.
Brent ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 56%
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 65%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 19%. The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. In Brent, 66% of residents have English as their main language.
In Brent, 15% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 99% 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: 15% of Brent · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 39% in Brent and 46% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 14% of residents said they have no religion.
44% of adults have never married, more than in 95% 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
43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For Brent, the census puts unpaid carers at 7.2%.
Among adults, 40% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 40% of adults in Brent, 34% across England’s towns; 22% have no qualification, against 18%. The highest qualification of 13% is A levels, often students still at university.
From a median age of 29 in Wembley Park to 41 in Kenton Woodcock Park
The borough’s 35 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Kenton Woodcock Park is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Wembley Park the youngest (median age 29). Students cluster in Wembley Park, where 26% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Wembley West (43% of households).
Ranked by age, 18th youngest of 36 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tower Hamlets (30.8) and the oldest Bromley (41.2). Nearest to Brent in age: Lewisham (35.4), Waltham Forest (35.8), Redbridge (36.1) and Haringey (36.2).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Brent
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brent | 340,611 | — | 35.9 | 12% | 34% |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 3.7 mi | 36.9 | 12% | 34% |
| Harrow | 260,534 | 4.1 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 36% |
| Barnet | 388,572 | 4.4 mi | 37.8 | 14% | 33% |
| Camden | 209,342 | 4.6 mi | 34.6 | 12% | 23% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 143,348 | 4.6 mi | 39.1 | 14% | 20% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 182,187 | 4.7 mi | 34.2 | 10% | 23% |
| Westminster | 203,571 | 4.8 mi | 35.9 | 12% | 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.
- “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 Brent’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. Brent’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 339,826 people in 2021, against 340,611 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 Brent’s residents
What is the population of Brent?
The 2021 Census counted 340,611 people in Brent’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 353,000 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Brent?
The median age was 35.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 94% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brent?
15% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 56% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brent?
14% said they had no religion and 39% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 21% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Brent good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Wembley West (43% of households). Schools are on Brent’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.