Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Eye is younger than 80% of UK towns: a median age of 40
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Eye has 32%. The 2021 Census counted 5,419 residents in 2,260 households. Locally, 12% of households live in a terraced house. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as White British: 85% here, fewer than in 79% of UK towns.
Eye ranks above 76% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
19% of Eye is 65 or over, against 17% across Cambridgeshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7% of residents. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Eye, 40. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A higher share of full-time students than 63% of UK towns, at 5.1%
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%.
With residents who moved in within the year at 9.9%, Eye is ahead of 72% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person households make up 27% in Eye, less than in 76% of UK towns
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.
In Eye the average household is 2.4 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. On shared households of unrelated adults, Eye sits higher than three quarters of UK towns: 3%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns.
5.2% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 82% of UK towns
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
The share of households in detached houses tops 78% of UK towns: 41%. On the census count, 15% of households have no car or van. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 72% of UK towns, at 9.6%
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 13% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Eye sits lower than 76% of UK towns: 95%. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (5.2%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%).
Eye: 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 58% 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: 85% of Eye · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Eye, two in five residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (5.9%), Mixed or multiple (3.3%) and Indian (1.9%).
34% of adults have never married, more than in 60% 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
147 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Set against 44% across England’s towns, 47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Eye.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 24%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Eye’s adults: 24% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Ranked by age, 85th youngest of 516 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Eye in age: Arlesey (39.9), Wesham (40), Woodford Halse (40.2) and Blaenavon (40.2).
Around Eye, 6 of 7 towns have a higher median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye | 5,419 | — | 40 | 19% | 32% |
| Newborough | 1,469 | 2.4 mi | 45.7 | 22% | 32% |
| Peterborough | 190,592 | 3.7 mi | 35.9 | 13% | 35% |
| Thorney | 1,655 | 3.7 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 28% |
| Whittlesey | 13,833 | 4.4 mi | 45 | 24% | 26% |
| Crowland | 4,619 | 4.4 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 27% |
| Glinton | 1,743 | 4.8 mi | 49.5 | 24% | 30% |
| Farcet | 1,596 | 5.3 mi | 45.6 | 21% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Eye’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 Eye’s residents
What is the population of Eye?
The 2021 Census counted 5,419 people in Eye’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Eye?
The median age was 40 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Eye?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 9.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Eye?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Eye good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Eye’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.