Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 91% of UK towns: 34% of households have dependent children
33% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). Sunbury-on-Thames had 21,476 residents and 8,520 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 40.5 (younger than 78% of UK towns). Across Sunbury-on-Thames, 27% of households live in a flat or apartment. Fewer one-person households than in 83% of UK towns: 26%.
Sunbury-on-Thames’s population changed by +13% since 2011, more than in 71% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sunbury-on-Thames’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 21,200 people in 2011; 24,000 in 2024.
Split by age, the 0 to 15 changed most (+24%) and the 16 to 29 least (−2%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 540 more people.
Half of Sunbury-on-Thames is under 40.5, younger than 78% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
People aged 65 and over make up 17% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 40–44: 7.5% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sunbury-on-Thames, 40.5. 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.
5.5% of adults are full-time students, more than in 73% 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%.
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, against 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Sunbury-on-Thames households average 2.5 people, larger than in 90% 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.
3.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across England’s towns.
14% of households have no car or van, below 57% 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 households in terraced houses, 24% here is much the same as across England’s towns. In one household in 7 there is no car or van. At 21%, the share of households in detached houses is lower than in 71% of UK towns.
21% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 93% 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
In Sunbury-on-Thames, just over nine in ten residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Only 69% of residents describe themselves as White British in Sunbury-on-Thames
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: 69% of Sunbury-on-Thames · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 4.3%. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Christians make up half of residents, against 46% across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 62% of UK towns: 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
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 49% in Sunbury-on-Thames and 44% across England’s towns. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 467 people. At 8.1%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 81% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 37% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 16% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 33 in Ashford Common to 44 in Sunbury East
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Sunbury East is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Ashford Common the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Sunbury Common (37% of households).
Of 289 UK towns its size (15,000 to 29,000 people), the 63rd 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 Bangor (26.4), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Sunbury-on-Thames in age: Kirkby-in-Ashfield (40.5), Hertford (40.5), Darwen (40.6) and Waltham Abbey (40.6).
Older than Sunbury-on-Thames: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | — | 40.5 | 17% | 34% |
| Ashford Common | 8,333 | 1.2 mi | 41.3 | 18% | 30% |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 1.2 mi | 50 | 29% | 24% |
| Shepperton | 5,917 | 2 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 25% |
| Walton-on-Thames | 27,016 | 2.2 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 33% |
| Shepperton Green | 4,358 | 2.2 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 30% |
| Ashford | 22,823 | 2.4 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 32% |
| Weybridge | 15,918 | 3.4 mi | 43.1 | 18% | 32% |
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 Sunbury-on-Thames’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. Sunbury-on-Thames’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,226 people in 2021, against 21,476 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 Sunbury-on-Thames’s residents
What is the population of Sunbury-on-Thames?
The 2021 Census counted 21,476 people in Sunbury-on-Thames’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,000 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sunbury-on-Thames?
The median age was 40.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 78% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sunbury-on-Thames?
69% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sunbury-on-Thames?
33% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4.3% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Sunbury-on-Thames good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Sunbury Common (37% of households). Schools are on Sunbury-on-Thames’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.