Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.029% of households live in a flat, more than in 95% of UK towns
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 65%, against 73% across England’s towns. By contrast, households with dependent children are more common here than in 85% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 75,655 residents in Woking, living in 30,430 households. The share of married adults and civil partners stands at 50%.
What the Census says about Woking’s people
More born abroad than most towns
26% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across Surrey’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (9.6%) and in EU countries (9.1%). Where people were born ↓
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.
Slower growth than 52% of UK towns: Woking changed by +7% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Woking’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 73,700 people in 2011; 78,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2012 to mid-2013: 980. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+21%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−1%).
Half of Woking is under 39.2, younger than 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 35–39: 8.1% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 15%, fewer than in 89% of UK towns. In Banstead, the oldest of Surrey’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Woking, 39.2. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Woking ranks above 75% of UK towns on full-time students: 5.5%
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 44% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 17% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across Woking, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Woking households average 2.5 people, larger than in 87% 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.
Woking sits close to the norm on shared households of unrelated adults: 4%, about the same as across England’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 28% in the town.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 55% of UK towns: 16%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Woking has 27%. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 19% in the town. For comparison, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Woking ranks above 96% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 26%
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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 23% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). In Woking, 87% of residents have English as their main language. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Fewer residents with no religion than 86% of UK towns: 34%
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: 65% of Woking · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 46%, residents who describe themselves as Christian sit close to the figure across England’s towns. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (12%), Pakistani (7.5%) and Indian (3.7%).
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 62% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 1,512. At 8%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 83% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 45%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
13% of Woking’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 45% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 33 in Sheerwater to 44 in Horsell
The town’s 10 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Horsell is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Sheerwater the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Old Woking & Westfield (41% of households).
34th lowest median age among 91 UK towns of 53,000 to 102,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 50.4 in Clacton-on-Sea. Nearest to Woking in age: Doncaster (38.9), Rugby (39.2), Bootle (39.3) and Scunthorpe (39.5).
Every neighbour of Woking has an older population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woking | 75,655 | — | 39.2 | 15% | 32% |
| Bisley | 4,045 | 2.8 mi | 41.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Brookwood | 1,428 | 2.8 mi | 40.2 | 16% | 36% |
| Send | 4,094 | 2.9 mi | 48.1 | 25% | 29% |
| West End and Chobham | 8,877 | 3.2 mi | 41.5 | 18% | 37% |
| Jacobs Well | 1,122 | 3.3 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 24% |
| Ripley | 1,714 | 3.5 mi | 49.9 | 26% | 23% |
| New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater | 33,035 | 3.5 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 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 Woking’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. Woking’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 77,425 people in 2021, against 75,655 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 Woking’s residents
What is the population of Woking?
The 2021 Census counted 75,655 people in Woking’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 78,800 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Woking?
The median age was 39.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Woking?
65% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 26% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Woking?
34% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 10% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Woking good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Old Woking & Westfield (41% of households). Schools are on Woking’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.