Photo: Mark Shirley · CC BY 2.0Ashley is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.7
59% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Ashley was home to 250 people in 112 households. In Ashley, just over three in five adults are married or in a civil partnership. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns.
Only 5.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Ashley
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, a third of residents are 65 or over here. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 97% of UK towns: 6%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Ashley, 47% and 14%. 4.1% of adults are full-time students, a lower share than in 81% of UK towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns: 20%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Northamptonshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
With one-person households at 26%, Ashley is behind just over four fifths of UK towns on that count. Average household size: 2.2 people. The share of households with dependent children across England’s towns is 29%.
3.5% of households have no car or van, below 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
Households in terraced houses make up 12%, against 24% across England’s towns. 1.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 97% of UK towns.
Ashley ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 100%
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 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The figure for residents born outside the UK is 8% in Ashley and 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (3.2%) and in EU countries (2.4%).
In Ashley, 63% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 98% 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: 95% of Ashley · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
A third of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 95% of the total.
In Ashley, 21% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 99% 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
Set against 8.7% across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care in Ashley. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 47%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 47% of Ashley’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification (18%).
Ashley is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley | 250 | — | 57.7 | 33% | 20% |
| Cottingham and Middleton | 1,365 | 3 mi | 53.6 | 28% | 23% |
| Great Bowden | 1,510 | 3.5 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 32% |
| Market Harborough | 24,162 | 4.5 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
| Desborough | 11,899 | 4.7 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 30% |
| Corby | 68,164 | 5.5 mi | 37 | 13% | 35% |
| Rothwell | 8,623 | 6.3 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Gretton | 1,519 | 6.8 mi | 47.4 | 22% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Northamptonshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Northamptonshire (or England), summed the same way as Ashley’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Ashley’s residents
What is the population of Ashley?
The 2021 Census counted 250 people in Ashley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ashley?
The median age was 57.7 at the 2021 Census. 5.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashley?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashley?
33% said they had no religion and 63% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4% didn’t answer.
Is Ashley good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ashley’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). 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.