Photo: Tony Bennett · CC BY-SA 2.0Parson Drove ranks below 99% of UK towns on households in flats: 0.8%
The figure for households in detached houses is 70% in Parson Drove and 21% across England’s towns. The village is home to 1,197 residents in 506 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Nearly a quarter of households have dependent children, a lower share than in 85% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Parson Drove’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Parson Drove’s residents are under 50.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 26% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Older than 86% of UK towns: half of Parson Drove is over 50.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 26%, against 18% across England’s towns. Lower than in 60% of UK towns: 9.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Parson Drove ranks below 92% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.7%
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%.
In Parson Drove, 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
Fewer people live alone than in 77% of UK towns: 26% of households
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Parson Drove comes in at 2.8%. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Average household size: 2.4 people.
Only 5.9% of households live in a terraced house in Parson Drove
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 figure for households without a car or van is 8% in Parson Drove and 24% across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 5.3% in Parson Drove, less than in 62% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) and in Africa (0.8%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Here 98% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 94%, a higher share than 63% 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: 94% of Parson Drove · Cambridgeshire’s towns 72% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.9%), Pakistani (0.4%) and Mixed or multiple (0.4%). The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 82% of UK towns: 27%
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
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Parson Drove comes in at 51%. For 42 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. On unpaid carers, Parson Drove sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 9.8%. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
19% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Parson Drove, 26%, while 19% hold one at degree level (34%).
Older than Parson Drove: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parson Drove | 1,197 | — | 50.2 | 26% | 23% |
| Wisbech St Mary | 1,069 | 2.9 mi | 46.2 | 25% | 25% |
| Gorefield | 1,070 | 3.4 mi | 50.2 | 29% | 24% |
| Leverington | 1,694 | 4.7 mi | 47.2 | 29% | 25% |
| Wisbech | 26,800 | 5.8 mi | 41.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Thorney | 1,655 | 6.1 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 28% |
| Friday Bridge | 1,411 | 6.2 mi | 51.8 | 31% | 20% |
| Sutton St James | 1,027 | 6.2 mi | 47.7 | 23% | 28% |
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 Parson Drove’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 Parson Drove’s residents
What is the population of Parson Drove?
The 2021 Census counted 1,197 people in Parson Drove’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Parson Drove?
The median age was 50.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Parson Drove?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 72% across Cambridgeshire’s towns. 5.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Parson Drove?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Parson Drove good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Parson Drove’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.