Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0Lyneham is younger than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 25.6
The share of one-person households is 19%, against 30% across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 7.4% of the total. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are rarer here than in 94% of UK towns. Lyneham is home to 4,645 residents in 969 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Lyneham’s people
A town of families
42% of Lyneham’s 969 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 99% of UK towns. 14% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Lyneham’s residents are under 25.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% are 15 to 24 and 5% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town people move to
31% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 3 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Lyneham at 3,200 in 2011 and 4,600 in 2024, up 45%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 97% 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.
+45% since 2011, a pace 97% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lyneham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,200 people in 2011; 4,600 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2015 to mid-2016, the population rose by 440, the most of any year. Growth was strongest among the 16 to 29 (+148%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−17%).
5% of residents are 65 or over, below 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 15–19 than any other five-year age: 17% of residents, 3 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Mere, the oldest of Wiltshire’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lyneham, 25.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
33% women, 67% men
About 49 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Lyneham is a garrison town: service personnel living in barracks count as residents.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 31% in Lyneham, more than in 99% 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%.
28% of Lyneham’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 14% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Higher than in 96% of UK towns: 9.3% of adults are full-time students. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Lyneham, 42% of households have dependent children, more than in 99% 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.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Lyneham. Each household has 2.7 people on average. Households with dependent children: 29% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Fewer households in detached houses than 90% of UK towns: 12%
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
Terraced houses are home to 31% of households, against 24% across England’s towns. For Lyneham, the census puts households in flats at 5%. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Lyneham sits above 92% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (20%)
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 the Middle East and Asia (7.4%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (4.6%). At 90%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 92% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Since 2017: 40% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 85% of UK towns, at 79%
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: 79% of Lyneham · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Lyneham comes in at 43%. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%. Behind White British, the largest groups are African (3.2%), Other White (2.2%) and Mixed or multiple (2%).
4.6% of residents give unpaid care, below 99% 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 48 residents. 59% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a higher share than in 99% of UK towns. Unpaid carers: 8.7% across England’s towns, for comparison. The figure for married adults and civil partners is 32% in Lyneham and 44% across England’s towns.
24% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Lyneham, 8.4%, while 24% hold one at degree level (34%). Many of the 26% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
Ranked by age, 4th youngest of 695 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Lyneham in age: Little Eriswell (23.9), Pirbright (24.7), Bulford (28.4) and Cranbrook (30.5).
The towns around Lyneham are all older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyneham | 4,645 | — | 25.6 | 5% | 42% |
| Royal Wootton Bassett | 13,002 | 4 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 27% |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 4.7 mi | 47.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Calne | 19,725 | 4.8 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Derry Hill and Studley | 1,027 | 6.2 mi | 49.9 | 24% | 33% |
| Purton | 3,193 | 6.7 mi | 49.3 | 24% | 24% |
| Chippenham | 36,084 | 7.5 mi | 42.8 | 18% | 28% |
| Wroughton | 7,276 | 7.8 mi | 50.3 | 29% | 25% |
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.
- “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 Lyneham’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. Lyneham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,568 people in 2021, against 4,645 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 Lyneham’s residents
What is the population of Lyneham?
The 2021 Census counted 4,645 people in Lyneham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,600 people in mid-2024, 45% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lyneham?
The median age was 25.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 99% of UK towns. 34% of residents were 15 to 24 and 5% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lyneham?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 20% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lyneham?
43% said they had no religion and 39% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 10% didn’t answer.
Is Lyneham good for families?
42% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lyneham’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.