Hounslow belongs to working people in their thirties, and about half of them rent. The town splits almost exactly between owners and private renters. The typical resident is in their mid-thirties. Four in ten have a degree, while nearly one in five have no qualifications. The two ends of the qualifications ladder live on the same streets here.
About 42% of households own their home and another 42% rent privately, with about 14% in social housing. A town where renters outnumber owners is a town where a fair number of people are still saving for a deposit and moving every couple of years.
Hounslow's median resident is 36, and about 36% of people are aged between 25 and 44. That age group fills the buses and the town centre. Plenty of people work for Heathrow or the businesses around it, and that kind of job brings early starts and late finishes.
The Office for National Statistics models median household income across Hounslow's neighbourhoods at about £75,700 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. It's a modelled, gross figure for the whole household, often with more than one earner contributing, and tax, rent and a three-year-old date all come off it before it means much for a mortgage.
All the population figures here come from the 2021 census. About 24% of households were couples with children and about 12% lone parents. People living alone made up about 22% of households, and about 7% of households were a pensioner living alone, counted within that 22%. About 20% of households were overcrowded. With that many families squeezed into homes that are too small, the three-bed semi is in demand, and plenty of buyers want one.
About 41% of residents hold a degree, about 19% have no qualifications, and about 4% are full-time students. The mix is wide, from graduates working in offices to people who went into work with no certificates at all. Both groups live in the same streets.
At the 2021 census about 86% of residents described their health as good or very good. Across the London Borough of Hounslow, Public Health England's local-authority measures put deaths from preventable causes better than the England average, and smoking similar to England, at about 8% of adults. Those are borough figures, covering every ward and not Hounslow town alone. On preventable deaths, the borough does better than its image suggests.
Only 244 people live in communal settings such as care homes and hostels, out of 53,645 residents. That's too few to change any of the shares above.
On the profile measures, Hounslow comes out below average. It's young, busy and fairly well paid on paper, but overcrowding, a large group with no qualifications and a high share of renting weigh on it.