Photo: PAUL FARMER · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of residents with no religion than 79% of UK towns: 46%
With households in terraced houses at 26%, Wallingford is ahead of 73% of UK towns on that count. Lower than in 77% of UK towns: 19% of households live in a detached house. The town had 8,455 residents and 3,700 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 44.4 (younger than just over half of UK towns). Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Faster growth than 60% of UK towns: Wallingford changed by +10% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wallingford’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,900 people in 2011; 8,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+31%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−5%). In one year, mid-2020 to mid-2021, the population rose by 160, the most of any year.
Wallingford ranks below 51% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 22%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 8% of residents. With a median age of 44.4, Wallingford is younger than 51% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over. In Goring, the oldest of Oxfordshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wallingford, 44.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 63% of UK towns: 4.5%
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%.
In Wallingford, 44% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
32% of households are one person living alone, more than in 71% 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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are common here: 3.2%, more than in just over four fifths of UK towns. The usual figure: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Across Wallingford, 28% of households have dependent children.
22% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 86% 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
The share of households without a car or van is 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. The benchmark for households in flats across England’s towns: 23%.
In Wallingford, 11% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 77% 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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 96% in Wallingford and 90% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.9%).
89% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 69% 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: 89% of Wallingford · Oxfordshire’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
47% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. The groups that follow White British are Other White (6.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (0.7%).
Fewer unpaid carers than 86% of UK towns: 7.9%
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 169 people. By way of comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. In Wallingford, nearly half of adults are married or in a civil partnership, beside 44% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 43% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 43% of Wallingford’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have no qualification (18%).
Of 424 UK towns its size (6,000 to 11,000 people), the 198th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Wallingford in age: Kirkham (44.4), Milnrow (44.4), Brecon (44.4) and Bedwas (44.4).
Wallingford sits below 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallingford | 8,455 | — | 44.4 | 22% | 28% |
| Crowmarsh Gifford | 1,329 | 1 mi | 46.8 | 22% | 29% |
| Brightwell-cum-Sotwell | 1,244 | 1.6 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 30% |
| Benson | 5,236 | 1.7 mi | 36 | 17% | 35% |
| Cholsey | 3,776 | 2.2 mi | 41.4 | 18% | 34% |
| Berinsfield | 2,773 | 4.7 mi | 39.2 | 17% | 33% |
| Blewbury | 1,708 | 4.9 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 23% |
| Didcot | 34,600 | 5 mi | 35.8 | 11% | 33% |
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 Wallingford’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. Wallingford’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,455 people in 2021, against 8,455 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 Wallingford’s residents
What is the population of Wallingford?
The 2021 Census counted 8,455 people in Wallingford’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,700 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wallingford?
The median age was 44.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 51% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wallingford?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Oxfordshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wallingford?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Wallingford good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wallingford’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.