Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Ripley is older than 84% of UK towns: a median age of 49.9
In Ripley, just over a third of households are one person living alone, beside 30% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are scarce here: 23%, fewer than in 87% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 1,714 people lived in the village, in 789 households. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as Christian at 56% locally.
Ripley sits below 84% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (8.6%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 8.1% of residents. Higher than in 79% of UK towns: 26% of residents are 65 or over. On average, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 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
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.4% of adults are full-time students, below 69% 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%.
40% of Ripley’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For Ripley, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 8.6%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 83% 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: 3.8%, near enough the figure across England’s towns.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 84% of UK towns, at 9.7%
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 flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 15% in Ripley. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 21% in the village. At 30%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in 52% of UK towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 8.6%, a higher share than 68% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.9%). Residents whose main language is English are rarer here than in 60% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 6.7% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
90% of residents describe themselves as White British, below 62% 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: 90% of Ripley · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Little separates the share of residents with no religion here, 37%, from the figure across England’s towns. For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (5.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and African (0.8%).
Adults who have never married: 30%, a lower share than 64% 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
39 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 9.2% here, fewer than in 54% of UK towns. Where 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, Ripley has 48%.
Qualified to degree level: 36% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Ripley, 36%, and 15% have none, against 18%.
Every nearby town is younger than Ripley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley | 1,714 | — | 49.9 | 26% | 23% |
| Send | 4,094 | 1.4 mi | 48.1 | 25% | 29% |
| West Clandon | 1,233 | 2.5 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 34% |
| East Horsley | 5,843 | 3 mi | 49.9 | 26% | 32% |
| West Horsley | 1,378 | 3.1 mi | 49.3 | 25% | 31% |
| New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater | 33,035 | 3.3 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 32% |
| Woking | 75,655 | 3.5 mi | 39.2 | 15% | 32% |
| Byfleet | 14,187 | 3.6 mi | 42.6 | 18% | 33% |
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 Ripley’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 Ripley’s residents
What is the population of Ripley?
The 2021 Census counted 1,714 people in Ripley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ripley?
The median age was 49.9 at the 2021 Census. 8.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ripley?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 8.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ripley?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Ripley good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ripley’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.