Coleford is mostly middle-aged homeowners, with a big share of people living alone. Six in ten own their home. The typical resident is in their late forties. Nearly four in ten households are one person. It's a small market town that has mostly stopped expecting anyone young to arrive.
The 2021 Census, the source for every population figure on this page, counts about 5,000 people in Coleford. About 61% of households own their home, about 19% rent privately and another 19% rent from a council or housing association. Private and social renting are almost exactly the same size, so a town that looks like owner-occupier country on a quick read keeps four in ten of its households on somebody else's tenancy agreement.
The median age is 47, and about 23% of residents are aged 25 to 44. The young working-age group is thin, and the town is getting on.
The Office for National Statistics models median household income for the area at about £43,000 before tax for the financial year to March 2023, which comes to about £34,000 once tax is taken off. That income figure is an estimate averaged across the area, and three years old. In a town where a typical house costs around £200,000, about £34,000 after tax is enough to get by and not much more.
Households lean small. About 38% are one person living alone, and within that group about 18% of all households are a pensioner on their own. Couples with dependent children make up about 15% of households and lone parents about 10%. A town with more people living alone than couples raising children has a weekday rhythm set by the pensioners, not the school run.
Qualifications are spread evenly. About 25% of residents aged 16 and over hold a degree, about 23% have no formal qualifications, and about 1% are full-time students. With no university nearby, there are no students to drag the median age down.
Coleford's population profile is below average on the prosperity measures. It is older, more often living alone and on modest incomes, with a sizeable renting minority sharing the streets with long-settled owners. It's a working town, steady rather than well-off.