Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0More flats than 96% of UK towns: 32% of households in Bromley
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, nearly two thirds of residents describe themselves as White British here. Households in detached houses account for 18%. The median age in Bromley is 41.2, lower than in 74% of UK towns. Its 134,147 households held 325,469 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Bromley’s people
A borough of flats
32% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 96% of UK towns. 23% 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.
A growing town: +8% since 2011, faster than 52% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bromley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 310,600 people in 2011; 335,300 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2011 to mid-2012: 4,110 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+14%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−3%).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 18% in Bromley, less than in 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 40–44, with 7.6% of residents. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 53% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bromley, 41.2. 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.
Above 81% of UK towns: 5.8% of adults are full-time students
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 Bromley, 45% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Bromley, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 8.8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A family borough: 32% of households have dependent children
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 29%, against 30% across England’s towns. There are 2.4 people in the average household. On shared households of unrelated adults, Bromley sits higher than 85% of UK towns: 3.4%.
Bromley sits above 83% of UK towns for households without a car or van (23%)
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
On households in terraced houses, Bromley sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 21%. Set beside that, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
More residents born abroad than 93% of UK towns: 20% in Bromley
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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 14% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Here, 92% of residents have English as their main language. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 60% of UK towns: 48%
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: 66% of Bromley · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 37%, residents with no religion sit close to the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (5.4%) and African (4%).
A higher share of adults who have never married than 75% of UK towns, at 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
6,535 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 8.1%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in just over four fifths of UK towns. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners make up 48%, against 44% across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 43%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Bromley, 43%, and 14% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 36 in St Mary Cray North to 49 in Biggin Hill East & Cudham
The borough’s 39 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Biggin Hill East & Cudham is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; St Mary Cray North the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Hayes North (39% of households).
Among 38 UK towns of 228,000 to 439,000 people, the 1st oldest
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 Bromley in age: Bexley (39.5) and Plymouth (39.6).
Bromley is younger than 2 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bromley | 325,469 | — | 41.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Lewisham | 300,764 | 4.7 mi | 35.4 | 9.5% | 31% |
| Croydon | 389,242 | 5.3 mi | 37.6 | 14% | 34% |
| Greenwich | 288,117 | 5.8 mi | 35.3 | 10% | 32% |
| Crockenhill | 1,569 | 5.8 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 24% |
| Swanley | 17,209 | 6.1 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Joyden's Wood | 4,912 | 6.4 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 27% |
| Bexley | 246,074 | 6.6 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 34% |
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 Bromley’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. Bromley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 329,992 people in 2021, against 325,469 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 Bromley’s residents
What is the population of Bromley?
The 2021 Census counted 325,469 people in Bromley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 335,300 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bromley?
The median age was 41.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bromley?
66% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 20% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bromley?
37% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.3% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Bromley good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Hayes North (39% of households). Schools are on Bromley’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.