Most of Theale's residents are working-age households who chose a short drive over a long mortgage. Just over half own their home. About one household in five rents from a social landlord. The typical resident is in their early forties. For all the buyers who picture a retirement village, Theale is a place where most people still have a job.
Among Theale's 1,511 households, about 56% own their home. About 22% rent privately and another 21% rent from a social landlord. That is a mixed village with social housing still in it, not one that has sold every council house to a landlord. Buyers expecting a street of owner-occupiers polishing matching cars will find a more ordinary mix of neighbours.
The median resident is 43, and about 27% of people are aged 25 to 44. That is the age for a first mortgage, a young family, and deciding whether the commute is worth it. Theale is neither a student town nor a retirement village. It is full of people in the middle of things.
The Office for National Statistics models typical gross household income, before tax, at about £64,600 for the financial year to March 2023. The figure is a few years old and averaged across the wider area around the village. It describes comfortable working households rather than wealthy ones. Nobody here is short of a car, and few are short of a second one.
All the population figures here come from the 2021 Census, which counted 3,323 residents. About 36% of households were one person living alone, and about 15% were pensioners living alone, who are counted within that 36%. Couples with dependent children made up about 18% of households and lone parents about 9%. People living alone outnumber the young families by some distance. The school-run traffic is real, but it is not the whole village.
About 33% of adults hold a degree and about 17% have no formal qualifications. Only about 1% are full-time students. That is a broad spread, from graduate office jobs on the business park to trades and service work. With so few students around, nobody here has to put up with a street full of shared houses.
About 83% of residents describe their health as good or very good. Across West Berkshire as a whole, preventable deaths are better than the England average and smoking rates are similar to it. Those are local-authority figures, not Theale's own.
Only 8 residents live in communal settings such as care homes, so the household figures above describe almost everyone.
Theale is a settled, working-age village of owners and renters, reasonably well off and in good health. That mix is one of its strengths, and it has not become a commuter-belt cliché.