Census

The Census is a unique survey that happens every 10 years. It gives us a snapshot of all the people in England and Wales and the information gathered helps drive decisions about public services.

By taking part, you can help inform decisions about services that shape your community, such as healthcare, education and transport.

Census 2021 results

The most recent census was taken on Sunday 21 March 2021.

The Office for National Statistics is publishing the Census results on its website.

View Census 2021 result data

The 2011 Census was taken on 27 March 2011.

What the Census reveals about Horsham District Council residents is that while there are some similarities with the national picture, there are a number of important areas where it does not reflect the characteristics of the population of the Country as a whole, notably housing tenure, car ownership, marital status and a higher age profile.

The number of people owning their own homes is dropping and more are renting privately. Home ownership - either with a mortgage or loan, or outright - has decreased since 2001, when the previous Census was conducted, but to a lesser degree than nationally. In 2011 three quarters of Horsham residents owned their own home, slightly fewer than in 2001. Over one in ten now rent from a private landlord or letting agency.

Car ownership is high in the Horsham District at one and a half cars per household. The rural nature of the District is likely to have had some impact on this statistic, and this has not increased since 2001. Nationally this figure is 1.2 cars per household.

Marital and civil partnerships in the Horsham District do not reflect the national trend. Just over a quarter of residents are single; nationally this figure is 35%, and over half of the residents of the District are married (55%).

Attitudes to religion seem to have changed significantly and are in line with the national position. The number of Christians in the District decreased to 64% from 76% in 2001, and the group who stated that they had no religious affiliation increased to 27% from 15% in 2001.

The Census suggests that people are becoming better educated, with more getting degrees or similarly high levels of education; in Horsham District Council, one in three people have qualifications at Level 4 or above (eg first degree).

In addition to the detailed information released by the ONS about the Census 2011, interactive data visualisations are also provided on their website to help interpret the results.