Photo: Wayland Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Households with dependent children: 34%, a higher share than 91% of UK towns
The median age in Horley is 39.2, lower than in 84% of UK towns. One-person households account for 26%. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 27,067, in 10,911 households. 78% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns.
What the Census says about Horley’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Horley at 22,200 in 2011 and 30,000 in 2024, up 35%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 95% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
A +35% change since 2011: faster than 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Horley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 22,200 people in 2011; 30,000 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 920. Growth was strongest among the 0 to 15 (+56%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (+10%).
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 87% of UK towns: 8.4%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, Horley has 16%. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. No age band is larger than 35–39: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Horley, 39.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 82% of UK towns: 4.1%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 19% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Larger households than 85% of UK towns: 2.5 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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.9%, about the same as across England’s towns.
16% of households live in a terraced house, below 69% 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
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a flat or apartment here. The census found that 26% of households live in a detached house in Horley. Few places have so few households without a car or van: 14% here, fewer than in nearly three fifths of UK towns.
Horley sits below 85% of UK towns for 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
16% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (6.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (4.2%).
47% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 70% 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: 78% of Horley · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (8.4%), Mixed or multiple (3.3%) and Indian (2.4%). Few places have as many residents with no religion: 42% here, more than in 56% of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%.
Horley sits above 63% of UK towns for adults who have never married (34%)
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
Horley sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 7.8%, about the same as across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison. 523 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 54% of UK towns.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of Horley’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 37 in Horley West to 41 in Horley Central
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.
Horley Central is the oldest area, with 18% aged 65 or over; Horley West the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Horley West (37% of households).
256 UK towns of 19,000 to 37,000 people: this is the 42nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Horley in age: Warwick (39.2), Haverhill (39.2), Hyde (39.3) and Winsford (39.3).
Nearby, 5 of 7 towns have older populations than Horley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horley | 27,067 | — | 39.2 | 16% | 34% |
| Salfords | 1,873 | 1.7 mi | 44.6 | 22% | 27% |
| Smallfield | 2,613 | 2 mi | 50 | 25% | 23% |
| Copthorne | 4,917 | 3.4 mi | 47.6 | 23% | 28% |
| South Nutfield | 1,951 | 3.7 mi | 45.7 | 20% | 30% |
| Redhill | 32,516 | 3.9 mi | 38 | 14% | 33% |
| Reigate | 23,774 | 4.1 mi | 41.8 | 18% | 35% |
| Crawley | 120,567 | 4.7 mi | 36.9 | 13% | 35% |
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 Horley’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. Horley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 27,421 people in 2021, against 27,067 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 Horley’s residents
What is the population of Horley?
The 2021 Census counted 27,067 people in Horley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 30,000 people in mid-2024, 35% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Horley?
The median age was 39.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Horley?
78% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Horley?
42% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Horley good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Horley West (37% of households). Schools are on Horley’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.