Forest Row is lived in mostly by settled, well-off owners who have been around long enough to have opinions on the parish plan. Seven in ten own their home. The typical resident is nearer fifty than forty. Nearly half hold a degree. The people who live here arrived at the end of a career, not the start of one.
About 72% of households own their home. About 19% rent privately, and a further 9% rent from a council or housing association. Renting is a minority arrangement in the village, and most of the people who move here come to buy and stay.
The median resident is 49. Only about 18% of residents are aged 25 to 44, the years in which most people buy a first home and start a family. The under-45s are here, but they're outnumbered at the parish meeting, and a village this age tends to take its time over a new idea.
Modelled household income averaged about £70,000 before tax in the financial year to March 2023. That's a gross, modelled figure for the area, not a current payslip, and it describes a household rather than a person. It fits with the drives and the house prices. The money here tends to be earned and then kept.
The mix of households is broader than the village's reputation suggests. About 12% of households are headed by a lone parent, a reminder that the village isn't only retired couples with a view.
All the population figures here come from Census 2021. About 28% of households are one person living alone, and within that group about 17% of all households are a single pensioner. About 19% are couples with children. A single pensioner living alone is almost as common as a young family, which shapes everything from the bus timetable to what the parish council argues about.
About 46% of adults hold a degree or equivalent, while about 10% have no formal qualifications. Only about 2% are full-time students, so the village has no student population to speak of. The book club, in other words, is well supplied.
Forest Row's population is one of its strengths. It's settled, comfortable and mostly owner-occupied, with enough families and younger residents to stop it becoming a retirement village.