Families who already won the property game, and are staying. About three in four households own their home. The typical resident is in their mid-forties. More than half the adults have a degree. Cobham is where people end up after their second house move, and very few of them make a third.
The 2021 census counted 17,815 people in Cobham, and every share below comes from it. About 74% of households own their home, about 16% rent privately and about 10% rent from a social landlord. That last figure surprises people who only know Cobham from driving through it. Housing association homes are part of the place, even if the detached houses get all the attention.
The median resident is 45, and people aged 25 to 44 make up about 20% of the population. That is the age group Cobham sees least of, because buying here usually takes until your forties. The children are here, and their parents are here, but the stage of life in between mostly lives somewhere cheaper and visits for Sunday lunch.
The Office for National Statistics models typical household income in Cobham at about £85,000 a year before tax for the financial year to March 2023, which comes down to about £60,000 once tax is paid. That is a comfortable income, but it wouldn't buy anyone their house today. The wealth in Cobham is mostly in property bought years ago, and salaries are only part of it.
Families shape the place. About 29% of households are couples with children, the group the big houses and the school choice are built around, and about 8% are lone-parent households.
The rest of the picture is quieter. About 25% of households are one person living alone, and about 14% of all households are a pensioner living alone, a group that is part of the one-person figure, not on top of it. A five-bedroom house bought for a family of five tends to stay with whoever is left in it, and Cobham has plenty of both.
About 54% of residents aged 16 and over hold a degree, about 11% have no formal qualifications and about 1% are full-time students. There is no university here and no student lets, so the degree certificates were earned elsewhere and brought back to Cobham along with everything else.
About 437 people live in communal settings such as care homes and boarding houses. Against a population of nearly 18,000 that doesn't change any of the shares above.
The community is one of Cobham's real strengths: comfortable, educated and settled, made up of families raising children in big houses and the older residents who raised theirs there and stayed.