Photo: David Gearing · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 73% of UK towns: half of Trowbridge is under 41.4
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 85%, below 78% of UK towns. 43,753 residents in 18,673 households: that is Trowbridge at the 2021 Census. Locally, 18% of households have no car or van. More adults who have never married than in 65% of UK towns: 35%.
Trowbridge grew +11% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 63% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Trowbridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 38,600 people in 2011; 42,700 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2016: 780 more people. Change by age ran from +38% for the 65 and over to −7% for the 16 to 29.
In Trowbridge, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 74% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 18%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Trowbridge, 41.4. 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.
A higher share of residents who moved in within the year than 52% of UK towns, at 8.8%
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%.
In Trowbridge, 32% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The census found that 4.9% of adults are full-time students locally.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 89% of UK towns: 3.7%
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.
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults make up 4.3% across England’s towns. The census found that 29% of households have dependent children in Trowbridge.
Trowbridge sits above 73% of UK towns for households in flats (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
There is little gap on households in terraced houses: 24%, about the same as across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment. 28% of households live in a detached house.
In Trowbridge, 13% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 81% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (7.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.9%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 86% of UK towns: 93%. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 14% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
In Trowbridge, 45% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 76% 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: 85% of Trowbridge · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (8.2%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Indian (0.5%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 46%, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners make up 46% in Trowbridge, less 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 1,146. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, 9% here is much the same as across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
28% of Trowbridge’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
From a median age of 30 in Steeple Ashton, North Bradley & Southwick to 45 in Trowbridge West
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Trowbridge West is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Steeple Ashton, North Bradley & Southwick the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Steeple Ashton, North Bradley & Southwick (58% of households).
161 UK towns of 31,000 to 59,000 people: this is the 81st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Trowbridge in age: Beeston (41.4), St Neots (41.4), Tonbridge (41.4) and Haywards Heath (41.4).
Every neighbour of Trowbridge 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trowbridge | 43,753 | — | 41.4 | 18% | 29% |
| North Bradley | 1,555 | 1.7 mi | 51.5 | 31% | 24% |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 2 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 28% |
| Bradford-on-Avon | 9,864 | 2.6 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Holt | 1,704 | 2.6 mi | 49.9 | 27% | 26% |
| Westwood | 1,001 | 3.2 mi | 54.4 | 35% | 21% |
| Berryfield | 1,094 | 3.8 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 26% |
| Winsley | 1,365 | 4 mi | 53.1 | 33% | 27% |
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 Trowbridge’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. Trowbridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 42,403 people in 2021, against 43,753 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 Trowbridge’s residents
What is the population of Trowbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 43,753 people in Trowbridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 42,700 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Trowbridge?
The median age was 41.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 73% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Trowbridge?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Trowbridge?
45% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Trowbridge good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Steeple Ashton, North Bradley & Southwick (58% of households). Schools are on Trowbridge’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.