Photo: Keith Edkins · CC BY-SA 2.0

41.5Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of UK towns: 7.3%

Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. In Down Field, 17% of households live in a detached house. The village’s 279 households held 644 residents at the 2021 Census. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 86%, below 77% of UK towns.

18%aged 65 or over 13%born abroad 279households

Ages

A median age of 41.5: Down Field is younger than 72% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

Down FieldEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

At 18%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is in line with the figure across England’s towns. In Buckden, the oldest of Cambridgeshire’s towns by this measure, it is 30%.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1517%

15 to 247.3%

25 to 4430%

45 to 6427%

65 and over18%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

49% women, 51% men

Down Field

England

WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

Down Field sits below 89% of UK towns for full-time students (3.8%)

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

Full-time students3.8%

Higher managerial and professional6.5%

Lower managerial and professional15%

Intermediate9.6%

Small employers and self-employed11%

Supervisory and technical8%

Semi-routine17%

Routine22%

Never worked or long-term unemployed7.8%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Down Field

6.9%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

residents, 6.6%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0.3× England’s share

Compared with 11% across England’s towns, 6.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.

Households

Households here average 2.2 people, below 66% of UK towns

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 14%Living alone, under 66 14%Families with dependent children 29%Couples and families, no young children 41%Shared houses and other 2.9%

Against Cambridgeshire’s towns and England’s towns

Down Field

Cambridgeshire’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person28%

2 people42%

3 people15%

4 people11%

5 or more4.2%

England’s towns.

Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 28% of households are one person living alone here. The census found that 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Down Field. 29% of households have dependent children, more than in 64% of UK towns.

Homes & cars

Households without a car or van make up 13% in Down Field, less than in 65% of UK towns

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Down Field

Cambridgeshire’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van13%

One41%

Two35%

Three or more10%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 22% of households live in a terraced house here. Every 8th household or so has no car or van.

Where people were born

Down Field ranks above 81% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 13%

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%

Down Field

13%

Cambridgeshire’s towns

22%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language91%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well6.3%

Another main language, little or no English2.4%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, against 91% in Down Field. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (10%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).

Ethnicity & religion

45% said they have no religion, more than in 74% 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

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White10%

Asian1.1%

Mixed1.9%

Black0.2%

Other0.6%

0%8%16%

White British, not charted: 86% of Down Field · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion45%

Christian48%

Muslim0.9%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.3%

Other religion0.3%

Didn’t answer6.2%

0%30%60%

Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here and 46% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Bangladeshi (0.6%).

Relationships & caring

Unpaid carers: 7.1%, a lower share than 96% 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

Never married or in a civil partnership36%

Married or civil partnership43%

Separated2.7%

Divorced11%

Widowed7.2%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

43residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 7.1%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week4.6%

20 to 49 hours0.7%

50 hours or more1.8%

Compared with 44% across England’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. Against that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Locally, 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.

Qualifications

17% of adults are qualified to degree level

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications27%

Apprenticeship9.1%

A levels or similar16%

Degree level17%

Down FieldCambridgeshire’s townsEngland’s towns

With 17% of its adults qualified to degree level, Down Field compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 27% hold no qualification (18%).

Neighbours

4 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Down Field

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

SohamFordhamIslehamBurwellExningNewmarketStrethamDown Field

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Down Field	644	—	41.5	18%	29%
Soham	10,609	1.4 mi	38.9	17%	32%
Fordham	2,566	1.6 mi	44.5	21%	29%
Isleham	2,287	3 mi	44.6	23%	28%
Burwell	5,912	3.1 mi	46.6	23%	27%
Exning	2,049	3.8 mi	40.2	18%	30%
Newmarket	18,857	5.4 mi	40.2	18%	23%
Stretham	2,070	6 mi	44.7	20%	26%

More about Down Field’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

HealthLife expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commuteIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of livingOwners and renters, prices, rents and council tax SchoolsEvery primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

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 Down Field’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
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 Down Field’s residents

What is the population of Down Field?

The 2021 Census counted 644 people in Down Field’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Down Field?

The median age was 41.5 at the 2021 Census. 7.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Down Field?

86% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Down Field?

45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.

Is Down Field good for families?

29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Down Field’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). 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.