Bridge at Rookery Hill · Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Ashtead ranks below 96% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 6.8%
In Ashtead the average household is 2.5 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. There were 5,860 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 14,830 residents. On the census count, 47% of households live in a detached house. The town has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than four fifths of UK towns, at 84%.
+5% since 2011, a pace below 61% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ashtead’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,200 people in 2011; 14,900 in 2024.
Between mid-2011 and mid-2012 the population rose by 280, its biggest one-year gain. Change by age ran from +21% for the 65 and over to −16% for the 30 to 44.
Ashtead is older than 69% of UK towns: a median age of 47
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, more than in 67% 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+
■ Ashtead, 47. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students make up 6% in Ashtead, more than in 84% 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%.
8.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A family town: 32% of households have dependent children
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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 2.5% in Ashtead. Typically, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. One-person households: 25% of the total.
Households without a car or van: 9.3%, a lower share than 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
15% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. For households without a car or van, the comparison across England’s towns is 24%.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 83% of UK towns, at 13%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (3.4%). Fewer residents whose main language is English than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 97%. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. Across England’s towns, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 15%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 79% of UK towns: 55%
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: 84% of Ashtead · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (6.8%), Mixed or multiple (3%) and Indian (1.5%). Few places have so few residents with no religion: 35% here, fewer than in just over four fifths of UK towns. As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 96% of UK towns, at 59%
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
293 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 25% here, fewer than in 92% of UK towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Ashtead sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.5%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 49% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Ashtead, 10%, while 49% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 47 in Ashtead West to 48 in Leatherhead South & Ashtead South
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Leatherhead South & Ashtead South is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Ashtead West the youngest (median age 47). Families with children are most common in Ashtead West (33% of households).
Of 384 UK towns its size (10,000 to 20,000 people), the 93rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Ashtead in age: Hockley and Hawkwell (47), Henley-on-Thames (47), Romsey (47) and Ringwood (47).
Ashtead is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashtead | 14,830 | — | 47 | 24% | 32% |
| Leatherhead | 11,482 | 1.2 mi | 40.7 | 19% | 26% |
| Langley Vale | 1,515 | 1.9 mi | 46.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Epsom | 35,857 | 2.3 mi | 39.6 | 15% | 35% |
| Tadworth and Epsom Downs | 27,095 | 3.2 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 32% |
| Great Bookham and Fetcham | 21,655 | 3.4 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 27% |
| Ewell | 27,509 | 3.6 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 34% |
| Cobham | 17,505 | 3.8 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 36% |
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.
- “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 Ashtead’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. Ashtead’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,830 people in 2021, against 14,830 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 Ashtead’s residents
What is the population of Ashtead?
The 2021 Census counted 14,830 people in Ashtead’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,900 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ashtead?
The median age was 47 at the 2021 Census, older than 69% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashtead?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashtead?
35% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Ashtead good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Ashtead West (33% of households). Schools are on Ashtead’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.