Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.09.2% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 91% of UK towns
The share of one-person households is 25%, against 30% across England’s towns. Households in detached houses account for 47%. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 73% of UK towns. Goonhavern is home to 996 residents in 396 households, by the 2021 Census.
Older than 63% of UK towns: half of Goonhavern is over 46.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 60% of UK towns. In Tywardreath, the oldest of Cornwall’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Goonhavern sits above 63% of UK towns for full-time students (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%.
9.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). Elsewhere, 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.
Goonhavern households average 2.5 people, larger than in 85% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cornwall’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Goonhavern has 30%. Shared households of unrelated adults: 5.3% of the total.
Households without a car or van: 10%, a lower share than 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
9.4% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. Households without a car or van make up 24% across England’s towns.
In Goonhavern, 3.2% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 88% 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
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 99% in Goonhavern and 90% across England’s towns. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
46% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 80% 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: 93% of Goonhavern · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 73% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British in Goonhavern comes in at 93%. The share of residents with no religion across England’s towns is 37%. Of the other groups, the largest are Mixed or multiple (3.2%), Other White (1.8%) and African (0.2%). On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Goonhavern sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 47%.
Below 68% of UK towns: 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 21 people. Lower than in nearly four fifths of UK towns: 8.2% of residents give unpaid care. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. Compared with 39% across England’s towns, 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 30% of adults
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 Goonhavern, 19%, while 30% hold one at degree level (34%).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Goonhavern
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goonhavern | 996 | — | 46.2 | 25% | 30% |
| Perranporth | 2,752 | 1.9 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 24% |
| St Newlyn East | 1,038 | 3 mi | 47.2 | 23% | 28% |
| Shortlanesend | 1,427 | 3.9 mi | 36.2 | 13% | 38% |
| St Erme and Trispen | 1,604 | 4.2 mi | 39.5 | 16% | 33% |
| St Agnes | 3,253 | 4.5 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 27% |
| Threemilestone | 2,854 | 5.4 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 24% |
| Newquay | 24,543 | 5.5 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 25% |
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.
- “Cornwall’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cornwall (or England), summed the same way as Goonhavern’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 Goonhavern’s residents
What is the population of Goonhavern?
The 2021 Census counted 996 people in Goonhavern’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Goonhavern?
The median age was 46.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Goonhavern?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Goonhavern?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Goonhavern good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Goonhavern’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.