Photo: Unknown author · Public domainA median age of 55.2: Mevagissey is older than 97% of UK towns
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,878 residents in 887 households. The share of adults who have never married stands at 26%. Higher than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 43% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Mevagissey’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Mevagissey’s residents are under 55.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% 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).
Mevagissey ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.7%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 9.3% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 32%. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
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.
2.8% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Mevagissey has 9.3%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Only 18% of households in Mevagissey have dependent children
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.
30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, against 32% in Mevagissey. For households with dependent children, the comparison across England’s towns is 29%. Shared households of unrelated adults: 5% of the total.
Households in flats: 19%, a higher share than 81% 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 terraced houses trails 69% of UK towns: 16%. For Mevagissey, the census puts households without a car or van at 15%. To put it in context, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 74% of UK towns: 99%
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 largest groups were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). At 4.8%, the share of residents born outside the UK is lower than in 66% of UK towns. Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 78% of UK towns: 45%
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: 95% of Mevagissey · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 95%, against 73% across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Chinese (0.1%). Lower than in just over two thirds of UK towns: 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian. On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Above 74% of UK towns: 52% 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
Compared with 8.7% across England’s towns, 9.7% of residents give unpaid care here. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 60 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of adults in Mevagissey (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Mevagissey, 2 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mevagissey | 1,878 | — | 55.2 | 32% | 18% |
| Polgooth | 1,096 | 3.8 mi | 57.2 | 38% | 19% |
| Carlyon Bay | 1,174 | 5 mi | 62.8 | 47% | 16% |
| St Austell | 24,361 | 5 mi | 45 | 23% | 26% |
| Trewoon | 1,246 | 5.2 mi | 47 | 24% | 26% |
| St Blazey | 6,569 | 6.3 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| St Stephen | 2,339 | 6.9 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 32% |
| Foxhole | 1,526 | 6.9 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 27% |
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 Mevagissey’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 Mevagissey’s residents
What is the population of Mevagissey?
The 2021 Census counted 1,878 people in Mevagissey’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Mevagissey?
The median age was 55.2 at the 2021 Census. 6.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Mevagissey?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Mevagissey?
45% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Mevagissey good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Mevagissey’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.