Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0More households with dependent children than 94% of UK towns: 35%
The figure for households in detached houses is 55% in Esher and 21% across England’s towns. On the census count, 31% of residents said they have no religion. One-person households are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns. This Surrey town is home to 9,484 residents in 3,616 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Esher’s people
A town of families
35% of Esher’s 3,616 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 94% of UK towns. 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
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.
+4% since 2011, a pace below 65% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Esher’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 9,000 people in 2011; 9,400 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 110 people.
Esher is older than 57% of UK towns: a median age of 45.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 8.5% of residents. On residents aged 65 and over, Esher sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 19%. In Banstead, the oldest of Surrey’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Esher, 45.4. 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.
Full-time students make up 6.7% in Esher, more than in 90% 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%.
There is little gap on residents who moved in within the year: 11%, about the same as across England’s 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.
Larger households than 96% of UK towns: 2.6 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults tops 73% of UK towns: 2.9%.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 93% of UK towns, at 7.5%
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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, against 9.1% in Esher. Households in flats account for 17%.
Esher sits above 94% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (22%)
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Of residents born abroad, 20% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 81% of UK towns: 94%. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (6.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (5.4%).
76% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 89% 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: 76% of Esher · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
2.2% of residents said their religion is Muslim. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 56%, more than in 83% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British.
60% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 98% 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
With adults who have never married at 26%, Esher is behind 89% of UK towns on that count. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 7.5%, fewer than in 92% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. For 161 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 59% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 59% of its adults qualified to degree level, Esher compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 8.1% hold no qualification (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 12%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
Ranked by age, 167th oldest of 413 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tidworth (28.4) and the oldest Seaton (61). Nearest to Esher in age: Chapel-en-le-Frith (45.4), Calverton (45.4), Chepstow (45.4) and Maryport (45.5).
Around Esher, 1 of 7 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esher | 9,484 | — | 45.4 | 19% | 35% |
| West Molesey | 47,144 | 1.5 mi | 43 | 18% | 36% |
| Hersham | 12,622 | 1.9 mi | 40.3 | 16% | 38% |
| Walton-on-Thames | 27,016 | 2.2 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 33% |
| Cobham | 17,505 | 2.9 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 36% |
| Kingston upon Thames | 166,333 | 3.7 mi | 38.6 | 14% | 33% |
| Weybridge | 15,918 | 3.8 mi | 43.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 3.8 mi | 50 | 29% | 24% |
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 Esher’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. Esher’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,257 people in 2021, against 9,484 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 Esher’s residents
What is the population of Esher?
The 2021 Census counted 9,484 people in Esher’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,400 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Esher?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 57% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Esher?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 22% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Esher?
31% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.2% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Esher good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Esher’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.