Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Brackley is under 39.8, younger than 81% of UK towns
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone here. Residents with no religion: 45% of the total. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 97% of UK towns. Brackley counted 16,180 residents and 6,710 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Brackley’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Brackley at 13,100 in 2011 and 16,900 in 2024, up 29%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 94% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Brackley grew +29% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brackley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,100 people in 2011; 16,900 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +59% for the 65 and over to +20% for the 16 to 29. Mid-2018 to mid-2019 brought the biggest yearly rise, 650 people.
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over in Brackley
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Brackley comes in at 9.6%. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brackley, 39.8. 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.
Full-time students: 4.1%, a lower share than 80% 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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Brackley has 9.6%. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
2.4 people per household, more than in 78% of UK towns
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.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Brackley. Across Brackley, 31% of households have dependent children.
Fewer households without a car or van than 81% of UK towns: 10%
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
The share of households in detached houses is 42%, against 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 24% of households have no car or van. Households in terraced houses: 18% of the total.
8.5% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 67% of UK towns don’t reach
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
18% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. Across Brackley, 97% of residents have English as their main language.
Below 60% of UK towns: 91% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 91% of Brackley · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (4.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.9%). Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners: 50%, a higher share than 62% 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
In Brackley, 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, beside 39% across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 33% of adults in Brackley, 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification, against 18%.
46th youngest of 380 UK towns of 11,000 to 22,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Brackley in age: Gainsborough (39.6), Addlestone (39.7), Amesbury (39.8) and Flint (39.8).
Brackley sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brackley | 16,180 | — | 39.8 | 16% | 31% |
| Croughton | 1,200 | 3.5 mi | 30 | 14% | 30% |
| Kings Sutton | 2,306 | 5.3 mi | 47 | 23% | 27% |
| Middleton Cheney | 4,127 | 5.7 mi | 46 | 22% | 30% |
| Silverstone | 2,542 | 6.5 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 34% |
| Adderbury and Twyford | 3,318 | 7 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 31% |
| Bodicote | 4,752 | 7.4 mi | 36.1 | 15% | 39% |
| Buckingham | 14,296 | 7.7 mi | 40.7 | 18% | 32% |
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 Brackley’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. Brackley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,180 people in 2021, against 16,180 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 Brackley’s residents
What is the population of Brackley?
The 2021 Census counted 16,180 people in Brackley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,900 people in mid-2024, 29% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Brackley?
The median age was 39.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 81% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brackley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brackley?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Brackley good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Brackley’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. 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.