Photo: Matthew Black · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 39.8: Amesbury is younger than 81% of UK towns
Against a figure of 29% across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children in Amesbury comes in at 32%. The share of one-person households stands at 27%. Nearly nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 66% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 12,676 residents and 5,212 households locally.
What the Census says about Amesbury’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Amesbury at 10,800 in 2011 and 13,800 in 2024, up 28%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 93% 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 growing town: +28% since 2011, faster than 93% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Amesbury’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,800 people in 2011; 13,800 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+58%) and 0 to 15 least (+18%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2016 to mid-2017: 480 people.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 87% of UK towns: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%, Amesbury is ahead of 87% of UK towns on that count. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 35–39: 7.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Amesbury, 39.8. 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.
In Amesbury, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 85% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Amesbury has 34% and 26%. Locally, 4.9% of adults are full-time students.
Amesbury households average 2.4 people, larger than in 79% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Wiltshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3.3%, Amesbury is ahead of 84% of UK towns on that count.
A lower share of households in detached houses than 58% of UK towns, at 26%
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Amesbury comes in at 9.8%. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%. Households without a car or van: 14% of the total.
Amesbury: 11% of residents were born outside the UK, above 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (5.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.2%). Amesbury has fewer residents whose main language is English than 70% of UK towns, at 96%. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison.
42% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 60% 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: 89% of Amesbury · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and African (1.3%). Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 48% in Amesbury, more than in 52% 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
Amesbury sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.7%, about the same as across England’s towns. In Amesbury, 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 27% of adults in Amesbury (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
382 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000 people: this is the 48th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Amesbury in age: Dinnington (39.8), Brackley (39.8), Flint (39.8) and Featherstone (39.9).
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Amesbury
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amesbury | 12,676 | — | 39.8 | 16% | 32% |
| Bulford | 4,923 | 1.9 mi | 28.4 | 4.6% | 57% |
| Durrington | 5,718 | 2.1 mi | 38.7 | 18% | 33% |
| Larkhill | 2,728 | 2.8 mi | 27.2 | 0.7% | 57% |
| Old Sarum | 4,013 | 4.5 mi | 31.8 | 6.3% | 49% |
| Shipton Bellinger | 1,442 | 5 mi | 43.5 | 20% | 29% |
| Netheravon | 1,068 | 5 mi | 50.3 | 22% | 22% |
| Shrewton | 1,722 | 5.9 mi | 52.4 | 25% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Wiltshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Wiltshire (or England), summed the same way as Amesbury’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. Amesbury’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,995 people in 2021, against 12,676 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 Amesbury’s residents
What is the population of Amesbury?
The 2021 Census counted 12,676 people in Amesbury’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,800 people in mid-2024, 28% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Amesbury?
The median age was 39.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 81% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Amesbury?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Amesbury?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Amesbury good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Amesbury’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. 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.