Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 94% of UK towns: half of The Sands is over 52.8
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van; in The Sands, 5.2%. The village’s 152 households held 393 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 18% of households are one person living alone. Higher than in 99% of UK towns: 67% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Residents aged 65 and over: 28%, a higher share than 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 13%, against 12% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 5.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in The Sands
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%.
Full-time students make up 8.5%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.6 people per household, more than in 94% 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.
The figure for households with dependent children is 25% in The Sands and 29% across England’s towns. The census found that 4.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in the village.
In The Sands, 2% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 99% 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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 2% in The Sands. Locally, 69% of households live in a detached house. For households in terraced houses, the comparison across England’s towns is 24%.
11% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 77% 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
98% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in Africa (3.6%) and in EU countries (2.5%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 95% of UK towns, at 61%
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: 89% of The Sands · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (5.6%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Pakistani (0.5%). 33% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 87% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Set against 73% across England’s towns, nearly nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British in The Sands.
The Sands sits below 99% of UK towns for adults who have never married (22%)
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
Where 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, The Sands has 11%. Against that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 5.
52% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
52% of The Sands’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 8.8% have none (18%). The highest qualification of 13% is A levels, often students still at university.
No nearby town is as old as The Sands
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sands | 393 | — | 52.8 | 28% | 25% |
| Badshot Lea | 1,883 | 1.8 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 27% |
| Elstead | 2,261 | 2.3 mi | 51.5 | 29% | 25% |
| Farnham | 20,499 | 2.4 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 31% |
| Aldershot | 39,827 | 2.6 mi | 37 | 14% | 32% |
| Weybourne | 11,241 | 2.8 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 29% |
| Ash and Ash Vale | 24,284 | 3.5 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Wrecclesham | 7,312 | 3.5 mi | 45.3 | 22% | 33% |
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 The Sands’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 The Sands’s residents
What is the population of The Sands?
The 2021 Census counted 393 people in The Sands’s built-up area.
What is the average age in The Sands?
The median age was 52.8 at the 2021 Census. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is The Sands?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in The Sands?
33% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is The Sands good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on The Sands’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.