Photo: Marktee1 · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 91% of UK towns: half of Newlyn is over 51.5
Across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a terraced house; in Newlyn, 35%. This Cornwall town counted 3,362 residents and 1,623 households at the 2021 Census. One-person households account for 36%. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are scarce here: 20%, fewer than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Newlyn’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Newlyn at 3,300 in 2011 and 3,200 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 96% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Newlyn’s residents are under 51.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Slower growth than 96% of UK towns: Newlyn changed by −4% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Newlyn’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,300 people in 2011; 3,200 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+17%) and the 16 to 29 least (−16%).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8% in Newlyn, less than in 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 65 and over at 29%, Newlyn is ahead of 88% of UK towns on that count. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Newlyn, 51.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 73% of UK towns: 4.3%
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%.
28% of Newlyn’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Locally, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 95% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 3.1% in Newlyn.
More households without a car or van than 81% of UK towns: 22%
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
With households in detached houses at 26%, Newlyn is behind nearly three fifths of UK towns on that count. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in flats account for 13%.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 67% of UK towns: 98%
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
In Newlyn, 5.9% of residents were born outside the UK, beside 18% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Residents with no religion: 47%, a higher share than 85% 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 Newlyn · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Newlyn has 45%. The share of residents with no religion across England’s towns is 37%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Chinese (0.2%). Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 53% of UK towns.
Newlyn ranks above 65% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 9.9%
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
Some 100 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. As a yardstick, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. At 44%, the share of married adults and civil partners is lower than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. Compared with 39% across England’s towns, a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here.
32% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 32% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000 people: this is the 115th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Milford on Sea (64.6), the oldest. Nearest to Newlyn in age: Porthleven (51.3), Kirkbymoorside (51.5), Cherry Willingham (51.6) and Bottesford (51.6).
Older than Newlyn: 3 of the 7 towns nearby
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
- “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 Newlyn’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. Newlyn’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,170 people in 2021, against 3,362 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 Newlyn’s residents
What is the population of Newlyn?
The 2021 Census counted 3,362 people in Newlyn’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,200 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Newlyn?
The median age was 51.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 91% of UK towns. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Newlyn?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Newlyn?
47% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Newlyn good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Newlyn’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.