Photo: Stefan Czapski · CC BY-SA 2.0Tower Hamlets is younger than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 30.8
Flats are home to 88% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Tower Hamlets’s 121,056 households held 311,072 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 66% of households have no car or van. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 6.4% here, fewer than in 98% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Tower Hamlets’s people
A student borough
The 2021 Census counted 33,125 full-time students aged 16 and over, 13% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 98% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
More born abroad than most towns
47% 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 (14%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Tower Hamlets’s residents are under 30.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 16% are 15 to 24 and 5.7% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A mix of backgrounds
77% 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 Bangladeshi (35%), Other White (16%) and African (5%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
Tower Hamlets grew +30% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Tower Hamlets’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 256,000 people in 2011; 331,900 in 2024.
Split by age, the 45 to 64 changed most (+59%) and the 0 to 15 least (+11%). No year added more people than mid-2021 to mid-2022: 12,170.
Only 5.7% of residents are 65 or over in Tower Hamlets
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 16% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Tower Hamlets. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Tower Hamlets, 30.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
13% of adults are full-time students, more than in 98% of UK towns
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 fifth of residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 13%, a higher share than 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 32%, against 30% across England’s towns. Households here average 2.5 people each. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 27% here, fewer than in 53% of UK towns. The usual figure: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in detached houses than 99% of UK towns: 0.9%
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
Here 8.8% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. What’s more, 88% of households live in a flat, more than in 99% of UK towns; 0.9% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Tower Hamlets: 47% of residents born outside the UK
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 55%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The share of residents whose main language is English is 73%, against 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (22%), then in EU countries (14%).
Only 23% of residents describe themselves as White British in Tower Hamlets
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: 23% of Tower Hamlets · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Bangladeshi (35%), Other White (16%) and African (5%). The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 22%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Tower Hamlets has 27%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 58% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
Nearly a third of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 5,311 people.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 50% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
50% of Tower Hamlets’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 13%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 27 in Mile End West to 38 in City of London
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.
City of London is the oldest area, with 12% aged 65 or over; Mile End West the youngest (median age 27). Students cluster in Mile End West, where 30% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Poplar Central (38% of households).
39 UK towns of 218,000 to 420,000 people: this is the 1st youngest
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 Tower Hamlets in age: Nottingham (30.9) and Newham (32.5).
Tower Hamlets is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Hamlets | 311,072 | — | 30.8 | 5.7% | 27% |
| City of London | 7,820 | 2.3 mi | 37.3 | 14% | 8.7% |
| Hackney | 258,464 | 2.8 mi | 32.9 | 7.9% | 27% |
| Southwark | 307,076 | 3 mi | 33.6 | 8.4% | 25% |
| Newham | 351,065 | 3.2 mi | 32.5 | 7.2% | 38% |
| Islington | 216,309 | 3.8 mi | 33.5 | 9.4% | 22% |
| Lewisham | 300,764 | 4.5 mi | 35.4 | 9.5% | 31% |
| Greenwich | 288,117 | 5 mi | 35.3 | 10% | 32% |
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 Tower Hamlets’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. Tower Hamlets’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 310,303 people in 2021, against 311,072 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 Tower Hamlets’s residents
What is the population of Tower Hamlets?
The 2021 Census counted 311,072 people in Tower Hamlets’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 331,900 people in mid-2024, 30% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Tower Hamlets?
The median age was 30.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 99% of UK towns. 16% of residents were 15 to 24 and 5.7% were 65 or over.
Is Tower Hamlets a student borough?
Yes: 13% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (33,125 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Mile End West, 30% of adults were students.
How diverse is Tower Hamlets?
23% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 47% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tower Hamlets?
27% said they had no religion and 22% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 40% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Tower Hamlets good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Poplar Central (38% of households). Schools are on Tower Hamlets’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.