Photo: Christianmesmar · CC BY-SA 3.0More flats than 96% of UK towns: 32% of households in Chertsey
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9%, against 12% across England’s towns. Chertsey had 14,558 residents and 6,207 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 39.3 (younger than 84% of UK towns). The census found that 17% of households live in a detached house in the town. Fewer residents with no religion than in 85% of UK towns: 34%.
What the Census says about Chertsey’s people
A town of flats
32% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 96% of UK towns. 14% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Growth of +16% since 2011 puts Chertsey ahead of 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chertsey’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,400 people in 2011; 15,600 in 2024.
By age, the 0 to 15 group changed most (+28%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+11%). The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 480 people.
A median age of 39.3: Chertsey is younger than 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
People aged 65 and over make up 16% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. 30–34 is the most common age band: 8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chertsey, 39.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Chertsey ranks below 68% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.4%
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%.
Two fifths of Chertsey’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 19% 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 86% of UK towns. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Chertsey households average 2.4 people, larger than in 67% of UK towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.1%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 30% of the total. One-person households are more common here than in 51% of UK towns.
14% of households have no car or van, below 58% 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
On the census count, just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house. Against that, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Chertsey ranks below 86% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 93%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5%). For comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. At 18%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 91% of UK towns. Since 2017: 20% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 79% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 75% of Chertsey · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (3.6%) and Indian (3.1%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. Three quarters of residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 89% of UK towns.
Adults who have never married: 38%, a higher share than 83% 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
Nothing unusual on married adults and civil partners: 44%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 302 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Fewer unpaid carers than in 76% of UK towns: 8.4%.
35% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 35% of adults in Chertsey, 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 39 in Addlestone North to 42 in Thorpe
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.
Thorpe is the oldest area, with 17% aged 65 or over; Addlestone North the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Addlestone North (36% of households).
Among 384 UK towns of 10,000 to 20,000 people, the 38th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Chertsey in age: Swanley (39.2), Chigwell (39.3), Selby (39.4) and Mexborough (39.4).
Every nearby town is older than Chertsey
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chertsey | 14,558 | — | 39.3 | 16% | 30% |
| Addlestone | 13,748 | 1.3 mi | 39.7 | 17% | 29% |
| Lyne | 1,202 | 1.6 mi | 50.2 | 24% | 22% |
| Thorpe | 1,226 | 2 mi | 41.1 | 17% | 32% |
| Laleham | 2,521 | 2.1 mi | 50.3 | 27% | 28% |
| Shepperton Green | 4,358 | 2.2 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 30% |
| Weybridge | 15,918 | 2.6 mi | 43.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Shepperton | 5,917 | 2.6 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 25% |
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 Chertsey’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. Chertsey’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,903 people in 2021, against 14,558 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 Chertsey’s residents
What is the population of Chertsey?
The 2021 Census counted 14,558 people in Chertsey’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,600 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chertsey?
The median age was 39.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chertsey?
75% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chertsey?
34% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.3% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Chertsey good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Addlestone North (36% of households). Schools are on Chertsey’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.