Fairford is mostly homeowners in mid-life: families with children at school and couples whose children have left. About seven in ten households own their home. The typical resident is in their mid-forties. Household incomes are comfortable, and well over a third of adults have a degree. It is a town of people who arrived some time ago and have no plans to leave.
About 69% of Fairford's households own their home. About 13% rent privately and about 16% rent from a council or housing association, so there are more social tenants than private ones. With so few private lets, anyone hoping to rent here first and buy later will be choosing from a very short list.
The typical resident is 46, and about 22% of people are aged 25 to 44, the age when most people are starting careers and families. Fairford has some of them, but a lot of its residents are past that stage and have been here long enough to know whose hedge needs cutting.
The Office for National Statistics models typical household income for the area at about £58,700 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. That is gross income, and it is now a few years old. Even so, it describes a town where most households earn a decent living.
All the population figures on this page come from the 2021 Census, which counted 4,633 people in 1,954 households. About 23% of households are couples with children and about 8% are lone parents. About 26% are one person living alone, and within that group about 16% of all households are a single pensioner. Many of the town's houses have become bigger than the households living in them.
About 38% of adults hold a degree or equivalent, about 13% have no formal qualifications, and only about 2% of residents are full-time students. In 1608 most of Fairford's inhabitants were agricultural labourers or craftsmen. The modern town has kept the stone and changed almost everything about the jobs.
Fairford's population is one of its strengths. Its residents are well-off, well-qualified and settled, and buyers looking for a long-term community will find one here.