Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 4.0A higher share of households with dependent children than 89% of UK towns, at 33%
In Drayton, 9.4% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. One-person households are rarer here than in 92% of UK towns. The town counted 3,110 residents and 1,264 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households in flats at 6.8% in the town.
What the Census says about Drayton’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Drayton at 2,400 in 2011 and 3,300 in 2024, up 39%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 96% 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.
A growing town: +39% since 2011, faster than 96% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Drayton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,400 people in 2011; 3,300 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 age group moved most (+60%); the 45 to 64 group moved least (+28%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2018 to mid-2019, 210 people.
A median age of 40.8: Drayton is younger than 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. The census found that nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over in Drayton.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Drayton, 40.8. 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.
Full-time students: 4.6%, a lower share than 58% 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%.
44% of Drayton’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
2.5 people per household, more than in 88% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Oxfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
3.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across England’s towns.
Drayton sits above 84% of UK towns for households in detached houses (45%)
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 terraced houses is 12%, against 24% across England’s towns. As a reference point, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 68% of UK towns, at 8.6%
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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 97% here, fewer than in 64% of UK towns.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 69% of UK towns: 89%
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: 89% of Drayton · Oxfordshire’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4.7%), Mixed or multiple (2.9%) and African (0.9%). Residents with no religion are more common here than in 64% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 50%, against 46% across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners make up 53% in Drayton, more than in 81% 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
Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Drayton comes in at 31%. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 69 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.8% here, fewer than in 66% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 40% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Drayton, 40% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 14% have no qualification at all (18%).
Ranked by age, 66th youngest of 514 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Drayton in age: Rendlesham (40.6), Denholme (40.7), New Tredegar (40.8) and Silverstone (40.9).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Drayton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drayton | 3,110 | — | 40.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Steventon | 2,211 | 1.6 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Sutton Courtenay | 3,055 | 1.6 mi | 41 | 18% | 34% |
| Marcham | 2,030 | 2.1 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 33% |
| Abingdon-on-Thames | 33,179 | 2.5 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Shippon | 1,894 | 2.7 mi | 29.1 | 8.9% | 54% |
| Harwell | 3,067 | 3.4 mi | 37.7 | 17% | 38% |
| East Hendred | 1,367 | 3.6 mi | 44.8 | 20% | 32% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Oxfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Oxfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Drayton’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. Drayton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,110 people in 2021, against 3,110 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 Drayton’s residents
What is the population of Drayton?
The 2021 Census counted 3,110 people in Drayton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,300 people in mid-2024, 39% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Drayton?
The median age was 40.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Drayton?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Oxfordshire’s towns. 8.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Drayton?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Drayton good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Drayton’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.