Photo: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of UK towns: 5.7%
By its share of households in terraced houses (6.1%), Headley is below 97% of UK towns. Households without a car or van account for 4.6%. The village has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 80% of UK towns, at 95%. 297 residents in 132 households: that is Headley at the 2021 Census.
Half of Headley is under 42.5, younger than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 17%, against 18% across England’s towns. In Banstead, the oldest of Surrey’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 2.8%, a lower share than 99% 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%.
47% of Headley’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 36%. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Fewer one-person households than 95% of UK towns: 22%
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.
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Headley, 24%. Average household size: 2.3 people. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 53% of UK towns. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Few flats: only 3.1% of households in Headley 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
The share of households in detached houses is 25%, against 21% across England’s towns. For comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in Africa (1.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.7%). By way of comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. At 4.7%, the share of residents born outside the UK is lower than in just over two thirds of UK towns.
Above 90% of UK towns: 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 95% of Headley · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (36%), Headley is below 78% of UK towns. Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Mixed or multiple (1.7%), Other White (1.4%) and African (0.3%).
A larger share of unpaid carers than 84% of UK towns: 11%
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
40% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%. Across the comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Locally, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
36% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Headley’s adults: 36% with a degree-level qualification and 11% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of the 7 towns nearest Headley, 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headley | 297 | — | 42.5 | 17% | 24% |
| Langley Vale | 1,515 | 1.5 mi | 46.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Ashtead | 14,830 | 2 mi | 47 | 24% | 32% |
| Leatherhead | 11,482 | 2.3 mi | 40.7 | 19% | 26% |
| Box Hill | 1,271 | 2.3 mi | 65.2 | 50% | 6.6% |
| Tadworth and Epsom Downs | 27,095 | 2.6 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 32% |
| Kingswood | 3,757 | 2.9 mi | 50.1 | 25% | 28% |
| Lower Kingswood | 2,029 | 3.1 mi | 46.8 | 23% | 29% |
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 Headley’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 Headley’s residents
What is the population of Headley?
The 2021 Census counted 297 people in Headley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Headley?
The median age was 42.5 at the 2021 Census. 5.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Headley?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 4.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Headley?
36% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Headley good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Headley’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.