Photo: Bill Nicholls · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households in detached houses than 81% of UK towns, at 43%
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 85% of residents describe themselves as White British in Wheatley. Households with dependent children account for 25%. With a median age of 46.4, Wheatley is older than 64% of UK towns. The town’s 1,851 households held 4,305 residents at the 2021 Census.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 68% of UK towns, at 24%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.8% of residents. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. At 11%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 86% of UK towns. In Goring, the oldest of Oxfordshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wheatley, 46.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Wheatley sits above 93% of UK towns for full-time students (7.5%)
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 Wheatley, 42% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 11%, more than in 83% of UK towns. On average, 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.
Wheatley sits above 93% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (4.1%)
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.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Wheatley, 28%. The wider picture: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Average household size: 2.3 people.
In Wheatley, 14% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 76% 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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, just over one in ten households have no car or van in Wheatley. This Oxfordshire town has more households in flats than just over two thirds of UK towns, at 15%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 12% in Wheatley, more than in 81% 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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (5.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.7%). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Wheatley has fewer residents whose main language is English than 78% of UK towns, at 95%. Across England’s towns, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 21%.
51% describe themselves as Christian, more than in 61% 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: 85% of Wheatley · Oxfordshire’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 1.2% of residents. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 37%, fewer than in 70% of UK towns.
50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 60% 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
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 8.9%. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. 96 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 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 adults in Wheatley (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 13% (England’s towns: 18%). Many still at university: 17% list A levels as their highest qualification.
335th youngest of 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Wheatley in age: Millom (46.4), Kirkburton (46.4), Alford (46.5) and Shavington (46.5).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Wheatley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatley | 4,305 | — | 46.4 | 24% | 25% |
| Horspath | 1,467 | 1.5 mi | 51.3 | 27% | 23% |
| Garsington | 1,295 | 2.3 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 24% |
| Oxford | 170,799 | 4.1 mi | 32 | 12% | 28% |
| Oakley | 1,129 | 4.6 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 30% |
| Kennington | 4,595 | 5.1 mi | 49 | 26% | 24% |
| Berinsfield | 2,773 | 6 mi | 39.2 | 17% | 33% |
| Chalgrove | 2,807 | 6 mi | 47.4 | 22% | 29% |
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.
- “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 Wheatley’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 Wheatley’s residents
What is the population of Wheatley?
The 2021 Census counted 4,305 people in Wheatley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wheatley?
The median age was 46.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 64% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wheatley?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Oxfordshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wheatley?
37% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.
Is Wheatley good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wheatley’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.