Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.0A family village: 39% of households have dependent children
With married adults and civil partners at 40%, Penwithick is behind 90% of UK towns on that count. The village counted 1,706 residents and 678 households at the 2021 Census. Households without a car or van account for 9.6%. On households in flats, Penwithick sits lower than 81% of UK towns: 5.5%.
What the Census says about Penwithick’s people
A village of families
39% of Penwithick’s 678 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 97% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
More with no religion than most
60% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 34% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Penwithick’s residents are under 36.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Half of Penwithick is under 36.7, younger than 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 16% in Penwithick.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 82% 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 Penwithick, 18% and 34%. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Locally, 6.5% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer one-person households than 95% of UK towns: 22%
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.
A household here has 2.5 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 3.5%.
Below 72% of UK towns: 20% of households live in a detached house
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 is 19%, against 24% across England’s towns. What’s more, 5.5% of households live in a flat, less than in 81% of UK towns; 20% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 3.9% in Penwithick, less than in 79% 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
Here 98% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%).
In Penwithick, 60% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 99% 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: 94% of Penwithick · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 34%, against 46% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 94%, more than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. Next after White British come Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Chinese (0.1%).
Penwithick sits above 91% of UK towns for adults who have never married (41%)
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
Across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care; in Penwithick, 10%. Typically, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 66.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 19%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Penwithick’s adults: 19% with a degree-level qualification and 19% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns. A levels are as far as 19% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
Every neighbour of Penwithick has an older population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penwithick | 1,706 | — | 36.7 | 16% | 39% |
| Bugle | 2,430 | 1.9 mi | 38.4 | 16% | 30% |
| St Austell | 24,361 | 2.1 mi | 45 | 23% | 26% |
| Carlyon Bay | 1,174 | 2.8 mi | 62.8 | 47% | 16% |
| Trewoon | 1,246 | 2.9 mi | 47 | 24% | 26% |
| St Blazey | 6,569 | 2.9 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Roche | 2,311 | 3.5 mi | 43 | 21% | 28% |
| Tywardreath | 2,589 | 3.7 mi | 55.7 | 35% | 20% |
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 Penwithick’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 Penwithick’s residents
What is the population of Penwithick?
The 2021 Census counted 1,706 people in Penwithick’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Penwithick?
The median age was 36.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Penwithick?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Penwithick?
60% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Penwithick good for families?
39% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Penwithick’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.