Church of St Peter · Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0Below 84% of UK towns: 9.7% of households have no car or van
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 86%, against 73% across England’s towns. Ash and Ash Vale had 24,284 residents in 10,313 households at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Higher than in 62% of UK towns: 13% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Faster growth than 79% of UK towns: Ash and Ash Vale changed by +17% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ash and Ash Vale’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 24,200 people in 2011; 28,300 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 1,130 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+27%) and 45 to 64 least (+10%).
Half of Ash and Ash Vale is under 42.9, younger than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 7.5% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 19%, fewer than in 68% of UK towns. In Banstead, the oldest of Surrey’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ash and Ash Vale, 42.9. 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.
Only 4.4% of adults are full-time students in Ash and Ash Vale
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 Ash and Ash Vale, 40% and 19%. On the census count, 9.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
Larger households than 68% of UK towns: 2.4 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Surrey’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 28%, against 29% across England’s towns. One-person households are rarer here than in 70% of UK towns. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.9%.
A town of terraces: 22% of households live in one
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
Just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, against 28% in Ash and Ash Vale. The share of households in terraced houses across England’s towns is 24%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 11% in Ash and Ash Vale, more than in 79% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (4.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.2%). Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English are rarer here than in 73% of UK towns.
Ash and Ash Vale sits below 54% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (49%)
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: 86% of Ash and Ash Vale · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (6.2%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Indian (1.2%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%. 41% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%.
Above 61% of UK towns: 50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
For 576 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. Fewer unpaid carers than in three fifths of UK towns: 9%. Nearly a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns.
33% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
33% of Ash and Ash Vale’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
From a median age of 42 in Tongham to 45 in Mytchett & Frith Hill
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Mytchett & Frith Hill is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Tongham the youngest (median age 42). Families with children are most common in Tongham (30% of households).
Of 257 UK towns its size (17,000 to 33,000 people), the 127th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Brixham the oldest (55.6). Nearest to Ash and Ash Vale in age: Melksham (42.8), Farnham (42.8), Truro (42.9) and Penarth (42.9).
Ash and Ash Vale and its 7 nearest towns: 3 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash and Ash Vale | 24,284 | — | 42.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Aldershot | 39,827 | 1.7 mi | 37 | 14% | 32% |
| Badshot Lea | 1,883 | 2.5 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 27% |
| Normandy | 1,665 | 2.7 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 25% |
| Farnborough | 60,665 | 3.1 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Weybourne | 11,241 | 3.4 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 29% |
| Deepcut | 2,163 | 3.5 mi | 34.4 | 8.3% | 40% |
| Frimley | 15,101 | 3.7 mi | 43.9 | 20% | 32% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Surrey’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Surrey (or England), summed the same way as Ash and Ash Vale’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. Ash and Ash Vale’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 25,187 people in 2021, against 24,284 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 Ash and Ash Vale’s residents
What is the population of Ash and Ash Vale?
The 2021 Census counted 24,284 people in Ash and Ash Vale’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 28,300 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ash and Ash Vale?
The median age was 42.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ash and Ash Vale?
86% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ash and Ash Vale?
41% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Ash and Ash Vale good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Tongham (30% of households). Schools are on Ash and Ash Vale’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.