Settled homeowners, mostly past the stage of proving anything. Three in four own their home. The typical resident is fifty. Nearly one household in five is a pensioner living alone. Broadstairs is where careers come to be finished, not started.
Every figure on this page comes from the 2021 Census unless stated otherwise, and it describes a town of about 26,550 people in about 11,660 households.
Ownership is the default. About 74% of households own their home, outright or with a mortgage, while about 19% rent privately and about 7% rent from a council or housing association. That is a town with a lot of people who aren't going anywhere, and a smaller private rental market than the seafront flats would suggest.
The age profile explains most of the rest. The median resident is 50, and people aged 25 to 44, the years when most people are building careers and families, make up only about 19% of the population. The town has been drawing people for the sea air since Victorian convalescent homes opened for children at the end of the 19th century. The patients these days tend to be older and to arrive by choice.
Money is comfortable, not flashy. Median household income before tax was about £51,000 in the financial year to March 2023, the latest year the Office for National Statistics has modelled for the area. That is a gross figure, taken across households that include plenty of retirees on pensions, so it describes a town that is getting by well, not one competing for anything.
The household mix tilts older and smaller. About 31% of households are one person living alone, and about 18% of all households are a single pensioner, a group that sits inside that 31%, not on top of it. Couples with dependent children make up about 17% of households, and lone parents about 9%. The school gates are busy enough, but the bigger demographic is the one that no longer has a school run to worry about.
Qualifications cover a wide spread. About 31% of residents aged 16 and over hold a degree-level qualification, while about 18% have no formal qualifications at all. Full-time students make up about 2% of residents, which is what happens when the nearest university is somewhere else and the town has settled into its role as a place people move to after graduating from most things. The older population also shapes the local economy: health and social care work at local care homes employs a good share of the town, alongside teaching jobs at its schools and colleges.
About 380 residents live in communal settings such as care homes, not private households. That's a small share of the town and doesn't shift any of the figures above.
Who lives here makes for a middling social mix: settled, secure and older, with ownership high and incomes steady, but thinner on young families and early-career workers than a buyer in their thirties might hope.