Mostly working families in the middle of their careers, with neither retirees nor students setting the tone. Six in ten households own their home. About one in five rents from a council or housing association. The typical resident is in their late thirties. For once, the estate agents' "popular with young families" is simply accurate.
The 2021 Census counted about 9,950 people in 3,928 households, and every population figure here comes from it. About 61% of households own their home. About 22% rent from a council or housing association, and about 14% rent privately. The social rented share is high enough to be part of what shapes the place, and the private rented share is low enough that you'll rarely see a road full of letting boards. Most people living here expect to stay a while.
The median age is 37, and about 31% of residents are aged 25 to 44. That's a working-age place, not a retirement spot and not a starter flat for twenty-somethings. The people here are in the mortgage and school-application years.
Average household income is modelled at about £72,700 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. It's an area-wide estimate, not what any particular street earns, and it's a few years behind the current house prices. It's a comfortable figure until it meets a Surrey mortgage, and most households here are aware of that.
The household mix matches the age profile. About 27% of households are couples with children, and about 11% are lone parents. About 27% are people living alone, and around 10% of all households are a single person over pension age, a group that's included within the living-alone figure, not in addition to it. The school gate is as busy as the age profile suggests.
About 37% of residents hold a degree-level qualification, and about 14% have no formal qualifications. Only about 2% are full-time students, so there's no university effect. Graduates and non-graduates live side by side and share the same school runs, and the place is better for not sorting itself by qualifications.
About 103 people live in communal settings such as care homes rather than private households. That's too few to change any of the percentages above.
On who lives here, South Merstham is about average: a settled, working, family-heavy suburb, neither wealthy nor struggling, mixing owners and social tenants on the same streets.