Photo: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0More one-person households than 83% of UK towns: 34%
The figure for residents with no religion is 45% in Launceston and 37% across England’s towns. The town is home to 8,431 residents in 3,705 households, by the 2021 Census. For Launceston, the census puts households in terraced houses at 29%. On households in flats, Launceston sits higher than 91% of UK towns: 25%.
Launceston’s population moved +4% on 2011, less than in 66% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Launceston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,900 people in 2011; 8,200 in 2024.
Mid-2013 to mid-2014 brought the biggest yearly rise, 140 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+28%) and 16 to 29 least (−21%).
Launceston sits above 71% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (10%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in just over half of UK towns. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Launceston, 43.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a share 89% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
By class, 23% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). 4.6% of adults are full-time students, a lower share than in 59% of UK towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 68% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.9%, above 74% of UK towns. 26% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 61% of UK towns.
Above 72% of UK towns: 20% of households have no car or van
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
Nothing unusual on households in detached houses: 21%, close to the figure across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van across England’s towns is 24%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 95% in Launceston, less than in 80% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 20%. Census figures put residents born outside the UK at 8.2% in Launceston. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%.
Launceston ranks below 62% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 90%
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: 90% of Launceston · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (6.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Chinese (0.3%). The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Launceston has fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 76% of UK towns, at 46%.
35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 66% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails just over four fifths of UK towns: 43%. For 276 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Higher than in 62% of UK towns: 9.8% of residents give unpaid care. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 24%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Launceston, 24% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 20% have no qualification at all (18%).
424 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people: this is the 174th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Launceston in age: Malmesbury (43.9), Okehampton (43.9), Barnton (44) and Atherstone (44).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Launceston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston | 8,431 | — | 43.9 | 22% | 26% |
| Withnoe | 1,820 | 0.9 mi | 36.6 | 14% | 36% |
| Kelly Bray | 1,137 | 8.4 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 28% |
| Callington | 4,665 | 9.4 mi | 50 | 26% | 21% |
| Pensilva | 1,656 | 9.5 mi | 52.5 | 29% | 20% |
| Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel | 3,506 | 9.9 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 23% |
| St Cleer | 1,144 | 11.3 mi | 49.5 | 25% | 25% |
| Tavistock | 12,676 | 11.4 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Launceston’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Launceston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,431 people in 2021, against 8,431 in the built-up area.
- 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 Launceston’s residents
What is the population of Launceston?
The 2021 Census counted 8,431 people in Launceston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,200 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Launceston?
The median age was 43.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Launceston?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 8.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Launceston?
45% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 7.1% didn’t answer.
Is Launceston good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Launceston’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.