Photo: Senra , John McCullough · CC BY 3.051% of households live in a detached house, more than in 91% of UK towns
Compared with 44% across England’s towns, 53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. In 2021, the Census found 5,912 residents in Burwell, living in 2,536 households. For Burwell, the census puts households in flats at 6.6%. Residents with no religion are more common here than in nearly three quarters of UK towns.
Since 2011, Burwell has changed by +3%, slower than 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Burwell’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,300 people in 2011; 6,500 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+34%) and the 30 to 44 least (−13%). No year added more people than mid-2020 to mid-2021: 80.
A median age of 46.6: Burwell is older than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Burwell comes in at 23%. 9.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Burwell, 46.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.4%, a lower share than 71% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 8.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Burwell. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A lower share of one-person households than 66% of UK towns, at 28%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cambridgeshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Against that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. The share of households with dependent children stands at 27%.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 76% of UK towns: 11%
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Burwell has 14%. In one household in 9 there is no car or van.
7.4% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 59% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Since 2017: 17% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 62% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 92% of Burwell · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.7%). Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 92% here and 73% across England’s towns.
In Burwell, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 75% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
115 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.1%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 36% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 36% of Burwell’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification (18%).
Among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, the 279th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Burwell in age: Pill (46.5), Deepcar (46.6), Toddington (46.6) and Eynsham (46.6).
Burwell is older than every town around it
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Cambridgeshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cambridgeshire (or England), summed the same way as Burwell’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Burwell’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,405 people in 2021, against 5,912 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Burwell’s residents
What is the population of Burwell?
The 2021 Census counted 5,912 people in Burwell’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,500 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Burwell?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Burwell?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Burwell?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Burwell good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Burwell’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.