Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0Residents with no religion make up 47% in Calne, more than in 84% of UK towns
With households in terraced houses at 29%, Calne is ahead of 81% of UK towns on that count. Locally, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. One-person households are rarer here than in 62% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 19,725 people lived locally, in 8,438 households.
A +12% change since 2011: faster than 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Calne’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 17,300 people in 2011; 19,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+43%) and the 0 to 15 least (−4%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2020 to mid-2021: 320 people.
A median age of 42.6: Calne is younger than 65% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.9% of residents. At 19%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is lower than in 72% of UK towns. In Mere, the oldest of Wiltshire’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Calne, 42.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More residents who moved in within the year than 62% of UK towns: 9.3%
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; Calne has 33% and 27%. To put it in context, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 4.8% here.
Bigger households than 52% of UK towns: 2.3 people each on average
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.
Households with dependent children account for 28%. 2.4% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van: 14%, a lower share than 59% 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
The share of households in detached houses is 27%, against 21% across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison. The census found that just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment in Calne.
7.6% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 61% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (3.8%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 14% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
A higher White British share than 58% of UK towns: 93% of residents
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: 93% of Calne · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 46%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and African (0.3%).
49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 56% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 515 residents. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 9.1%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
28% of adults are qualified to degree level
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 Calne, 28%, and 16% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 39 in Derry Hill & Hilmarton to 47 in Calne South
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Calne South is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Derry Hill & Hilmarton the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Derry Hill & Hilmarton (33% of households).
310 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people: this is the 111th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Calne in age: Church Village (42.5), Newport Pagnell (42.6), Byfleet (42.6) and Rawtenstall (42.7).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Calne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calne | 19,725 | — | 42.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Derry Hill and Studley | 1,027 | 2.6 mi | 49.9 | 24% | 33% |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 4.2 mi | 54.1 | 29% | 18% |
| Lyneham | 4,645 | 4.8 mi | 25.6 | 5% | 42% |
| Chippenham | 36,084 | 5.4 mi | 42.8 | 18% | 28% |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 5.7 mi | 47.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Devizes | 19,491 | 6.1 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 25% |
| Melksham | 18,277 | 7.3 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 28% |
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 Calne’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. Calne’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,069 people in 2021, against 19,725 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 Calne’s residents
What is the population of Calne?
The 2021 Census counted 19,725 people in Calne’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,400 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Calne?
The median age was 42.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 65% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Calne?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Calne?
47% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Calne good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Derry Hill & Hilmarton (33% of households). Schools are on Calne’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.