Photo: James · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 0.9% of households live in a flat or apartment in Mepal
Where nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Mepal has 7.6%. 977 residents in 419 households: that is Mepal at the 2021 Census. Here, 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. One-person households are rarer here than in 91% of UK towns.
A median age of 49.4: Mepal is older than 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 27% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. Locally, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 98% of UK towns: 5.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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 full-time students at 4.2%, Mepal is behind 77% of UK towns on that count. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Fewer households with dependent children than 61% of UK towns: 26%
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.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (2.6%), Mepal is above 64% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. There are 2.3 people in the average household.
6.8% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 96% 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
54% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 60% of UK towns, at 5.4%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Here 98% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
A higher share of residents with no religion than 69% of UK towns, at 44%
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: 94% of Mepal · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Mepal, 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Meanwhile, on residents who describe themselves as White British, Mepal sits higher than 64% of UK towns: 94%. The share of residents with no religion across England’s towns is 37%. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (3.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Caribbean (0.2%).
12% of residents give unpaid care, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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
37 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 93% of UK towns.
26% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Mepal counts 26% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 22% have no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Mepal
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 Mepal’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 Mepal’s residents
What is the population of Mepal?
The 2021 Census counted 977 people in Mepal’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Mepal?
The median age was 49.4 at the 2021 Census. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Mepal?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Mepal?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Mepal good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Mepal’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.