# Most and least populated places in East of England (2021)

Central Bedfordshire was the most populated of East of England’s 45 councils in 2021 (population 294,252).

Maldon was the least populated (66,208). The middle council, Breckland, had 141,476.

| Rank | Area | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Central Bedfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/central-bedfordshire) | 294,252 |
| 2 | [East Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/east-suffolk) | 246,058 |
| 3 | [Luton](https://openindex.co.uk/luton) | 225,262 |
| 4 | [Peterborough](https://openindex.co.uk/peterborough) | 215,671 |
| 5 | [Colchester](https://openindex.co.uk/colchester) | 192,715 |
| 6 | [Basildon](https://openindex.co.uk/basildon) | 187,571 |
| 7 | [Bedford](https://openindex.co.uk/bedford) | 185,225 |
| 8 | [Chelmsford](https://openindex.co.uk/chelmsford) | 181,523 |
| 9 | [Huntingdonshire](https://openindex.co.uk/huntingdonshire) | 180,832 |
| 10 | [Southend-on-Sea](https://openindex.co.uk/southend-on-sea) | 180,686 |
| 11 | [West Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/west-suffolk) | 179,948 |
| 12 | [Thurrock](https://openindex.co.uk/thurrock) | 176,001 |
| 13 | [South Cambridgeshire](https://openindex.co.uk/south-cambridgeshire) | 162,118 |
| 14 | [Braintree](https://openindex.co.uk/braintree) | 155,268 |
| 15 | [Dacorum](https://openindex.co.uk/dacorum) | 155,081 |
| 16 | [King's Lynn and West Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/kings-lynn-and-west-norfolk) | 154,325 |
| 17 | [East Hertfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-hertfordshire) | 150,158 |
| 18 | [Tendring](https://openindex.co.uk/tendring) | 148,291 |
| 19 | [St Albans](https://openindex.co.uk/st-albans) | 148,167 |
| 20 | [Cambridge](https://openindex.co.uk/cambridge) | 145,674 |
| 21 | [Norwich](https://openindex.co.uk/norwich) | 143,922 |
| 22 | [South Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/south-norfolk) | 141,948 |
| 23 | [Breckland](https://openindex.co.uk/breckland) | 141,476 |
| 24 | [Ipswich](https://openindex.co.uk/ipswich) | 139,642 |
| 25 | [Epping Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/epping-forest) | 134,980 |
| 26 | [North Hertfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/north-hertfordshire) | 133,210 |
| 27 | [Broadland](https://openindex.co.uk/broadland) | 131,721 |
| 28 | [Welwyn Hatfield](https://openindex.co.uk/welwyn-hatfield) | 119,836 |
| 29 | [Hertsmere](https://openindex.co.uk/hertsmere) | 107,827 |
| 30 | [North Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/north-norfolk) | 102,980 |
| 31 | [Mid Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/mid-suffolk) | 102,699 |
| 32 | [Fenland](https://openindex.co.uk/fenland) | 102,462 |
| 33 | [Watford](https://openindex.co.uk/watford) | 102,246 |
| 34 | [Great Yarmouth](https://openindex.co.uk/great-yarmouth) | 99,748 |
| 35 | [Broxbourne](https://openindex.co.uk/broxbourne) | 99,009 |
| 36 | [Three Rivers](https://openindex.co.uk/three-rivers) | 93,771 |
| 37 | [Harlow](https://openindex.co.uk/harlow) | 93,329 |
| 38 | [Babergh](https://openindex.co.uk/babergh) | 92,341 |
| 39 | [Uttlesford](https://openindex.co.uk/uttlesford) | 91,341 |
| 40 | [Castle Point](https://openindex.co.uk/castle-point) | 89,587 |
| 41 | [Stevenage](https://openindex.co.uk/stevenage) | 89,495 |
| 42 | [East Cambridgeshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-cambridgeshire) | 87,762 |
| 43 | [Rochford](https://openindex.co.uk/rochford) | 85,661 |
| 44 | [Brentwood](https://openindex.co.uk/brentwood) | 77,047 |
| 45 | [Maldon](https://openindex.co.uk/maldon) | 66,208 |

Source: Census 2021, England and Wales and Scotland's Census 2022 and Census 2021, Northern Ireland, ONS Census 2021. Period: 2021. Period: 2021.

## Other rankings of this measure

- [UK](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/uk)
- [England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/england)
- [Northern Ireland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/northern-ireland)
- [Scotland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/scotland)
- [Wales](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/wales)
- [North East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/north-east)
- [North West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/north-west)
- [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/yorkshire-and-the-humber)
- [East Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/east-midlands)
- [West Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/west-midlands)
- [London](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/london)
- [South East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/south-east)
- [South West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/south-west)

- [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population)
- [Source and method](https://openindex.co.uk/sources/population)

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/east-of-england.

Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it.

Snapshot 2026.10.11. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/east-of-england