Photo: Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.033% of households have dependent children, more than in 89% of UK towns
Households in detached houses make up 11%, against 21% across England’s towns. 31% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 93% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 259,401 residents in Havering, living in 100,359 households. On the census count, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Havering grew +16% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Havering’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 237,900 people in 2011; 276,300 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+33%) and weakest among the 45 to 64 (+5%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 5,970 people.
Half of Havering is under 39.4, younger than 83% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Havering sits close to the norm on residents aged 65 and over: 18%, about the same as across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Havering, 39.4. 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.
More students than 87% of UK towns: 6.3% of adults in Havering
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%.
A third of Havering’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. On residents who moved in within the year, Havering sits lower than 56% of UK towns: 8.4%. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
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: 3.6%.
22% of households have no car or van, more than in 78% 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
On households in terraced houses, 24% here is much the same as across England’s towns. In one household in 5 there is no car or van. Havering has more households in flats than 89% of UK towns, at 23%.
Residents born outside the UK: 19%, a higher share than 92% of UK towns
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
Since 2017: 15% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Census figures put residents whose main language is English at 90% in Havering.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 94% of UK towns: 66%
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 Havering · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 52%, Havering is ahead of 66% of UK towns on that count. As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The Muslim share of residents is 6.2%.
Adults who have never married make up 37% in Havering, more than in 77% 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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 6,245 people. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.4% here, fewer than in 75% of UK towns. 47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 30% of its adults qualified to degree level, Havering compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 20% hold no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 16%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 33 in Harold Hill East to 50 in Emerson Park
The borough’s 30 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Emerson Park is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Harold Hill East the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Harold Hill East (41% of households).
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 49 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tower Hamlets is the youngest (30.8); Southend-on-Sea the oldest (41.8). Nearest to Havering in age: Wolverhampton (38.9), Bournemouth (39.1), Sutton (39.4) and Bexley (39.5).
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Havering are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havering | 259,401 | — | 39.4 | 18% | 33% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 218,236 | 3.8 mi | 33.3 | 8.7% | 45% |
| Chigwell Row | 2,115 | 5 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 28% |
| Aveley | 9,364 | 5.3 mi | 35.9 | 12% | 39% |
| South Ockendon | 22,441 | 5.5 mi | 35.7 | 12% | 38% |
| Redbridge | 309,509 | 5.7 mi | 36.1 | 12% | 41% |
| West Horndon | 1,648 | 5.9 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Brentwood | 55,339 | 6 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 30% |
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 Havering’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. Havering’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 262,051 people in 2021, against 259,401 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 Havering’s residents
What is the population of Havering?
The 2021 Census counted 259,401 people in Havering’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 276,300 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Havering?
The median age was 39.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 83% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Havering?
66% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 19% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Havering?
31% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 6.2% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Havering good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Harold Hill East (41% of households). Schools are on Havering’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.