Photo: Kicior99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in flats: 29%, a higher share than 94% of UK towns
With households with dependent children at 25%, Newquay is behind 70% of UK towns on that count. Its 10,878 households held 24,543 residents at the 2021 Census. The census found that 33% of households are one person living alone here. The median age in the town is 42.7, lower than in 64% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Newquay’s people
More with no religion than most
51% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 41% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Newquay at 19,900 in 2011 and 24,600 in 2024, up 24%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 90% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, Newquay outgrew 90% of UK towns: +24%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Newquay’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 19,900 people in 2011; 24,600 in 2024.
Mid-2016 to mid-2017 brought the biggest yearly rise, 700 people. Of the age groups, 45 to 64 changed most (+28%) and 16 to 29 least (+8%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 20%, a lower share than 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 9.6% in Newquay. The largest age band is 30–34: 7.6% of residents. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Newquay, 42.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Newquay, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 91% 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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Newquay, 29% and 26%. Full-time students: 4.8% of the total. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 71% 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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 5%, about the same as across England’s towns.
In Newquay, 18% of households have no car or van, more than in 65% 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
26% of households live in a detached house; across England’s towns the figure is 21%. Measured more widely, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 52% of UK towns.
Newquay ranks below 68% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 96%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.8%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). At 8.1%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 64% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. 16% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 95% of UK towns: 51%
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: 91% of Newquay · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 41% in Newquay. Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%. The census found that 91% of residents describe themselves as White British here.
Married adults and civil partners: 42%, a lower share than 86% 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
For 616 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 39%, more than in 86% of UK towns. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers make up 8.4%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Newquay, 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 41 in St Columb Minor & Porth to 44 in Newquay East
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Newquay East is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; St Columb Minor & Porth the youngest (median age 41). Families with children are most common in St Columb Minor & Porth (31% of households).
127th youngest of 257 UK towns of 17,000 to 33,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 55.6 in Brixham. Nearest to Newquay in age: Ely (42.7), Rickmansworth (42.7), Liversedge (42.8) and Melksham (42.8).
Around Newquay, 5 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newquay | 24,543 | — | 42.7 | 20% | 25% |
| Quintrell Downs | 1,358 | 2.1 mi | 46.7 | 26% | 25% |
| St Newlyn East | 1,038 | 3.5 mi | 47.2 | 23% | 28% |
| St Columb Major | 3,663 | 5.6 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 28% |
| Indian Queens, Fraddon and St Columb Road | 3,888 | 6.1 mi | 40.4 | 18% | 32% |
| Perranporth | 2,752 | 6.1 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 24% |
| St Erme and Trispen | 1,604 | 7.4 mi | 39.5 | 16% | 33% |
| St Merryn | 1,344 | 8.3 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 28% |
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 Newquay’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. Newquay’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,882 people in 2021, against 24,543 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 Newquay’s residents
What is the population of Newquay?
The 2021 Census counted 24,543 people in Newquay’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,600 people in mid-2024, 24% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Newquay?
The median age was 42.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 64% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Newquay?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Newquay?
51% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Newquay good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in St Columb Minor & Porth (31% of households). Schools are on Newquay’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.