Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0

57.6Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Older than 98% of UK towns: half of Perran Downs is over 57.6

Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment; in Perran Downs, 0.8%. The village had 295 residents in 124 households at the 2021 Census. Shared households of unrelated adults: just over a tenth of the total. Fewer households without a car or van than in 97% of UK towns: 6.4%.

36%aged 65 or over 5.4%born abroad 124households

Ages

36% of Perran Downs is 65 or over, a higher share than 97% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

Perran DownsEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24; in Perran Downs, 5.8%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1514%

15 to 245.8%

25 to 4413%

45 to 6431%

65 and over36%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

51% women, 49% men

Perran Downs

England

WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

Full-time students make up 3.9% in Perran Downs, less than in 87% 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

Full-time students3.9%

Higher managerial and professional13%

Lower managerial and professional25%

Intermediate14%

Small employers and self-employed18%

Supervisory and technical6.3%

Semi-routine9%

Routine8.6%

Never worked or long-term unemployed3.9%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Perran Downs

9.5%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

residents, 9.5%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0× England’s share

37% of Perran Downs’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 9.5% locally. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.

Households

A smaller share of households with dependent children than 92% of UK towns: 21%

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 15%Living alone, under 66 8.1%Families with dependent children 21%Couples and families, no young children 44%Shared houses and other 11%

Against Cornwall’s towns and England’s towns

Perran Downs

Cornwall’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person23%

2 people41%

3 people16%

4 people13%

5 or more6.3%

England’s towns.

In Perran Downs the average household is 2.4 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. One-person households account for 23%.

Homes & cars

Households in detached houses make up 83% in Perran Downs, more than in 99% of UK towns

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Perran Downs

Cornwall’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van6.4%

One35%

Two40%

Three or more18%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Perran Downs comes in at 6.4%. Set beside that, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.

Where people were born

Perran Downs: 100% of residents have English as their main language, above 99% 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%

Perran Downs

5.4%

Cornwall’s towns

5.5%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language100%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0%

Another main language, little or no English0%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.7%). The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Fewer residents born outside the UK than in three fifths of UK towns: 5.4%.

Ethnicity & religion

Perran Downs sits above 78% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (54%)

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

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White4.7%

Asian0%

Mixed1%

Black0%

Other2%

0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 92% of Perran Downs · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion42%

Christian54%

Muslim0%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0%

Other religion0.3%

Didn’t answer3%

0%30%60%

Residents with no religion make up 42%, against 37% across England’s towns. Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. For Perran Downs, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 92%.

Relationships & caring

A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns, at 65%

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership21%

Married or civil partnership65%

Separated0%

Divorced4.7%

Widowed9.8%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

32residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 11%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week5.2%

20 to 49 hours1.7%

50 hours or more4.2%

The share of adults who have never married is 21%, against 39% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Across Perran Downs, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care.

Qualifications

33% of adults have qualifications at degree level

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications16%

Apprenticeship6.6%

A levels or similar23%

Degree level33%

Perran DownsCornwall’s townsEngland’s towns

Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Perran Downs, 16%, while 33% hold one at degree level (34%).

Neighbours

The towns around Perran Downs are all younger

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

GoldsithneyMarazionCrowlasSt ErthLongrockHayleReawlaPerran Downs

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Perran Downs	295	—	57.6	36%	21%
Goldsithney	1,346	0.5 mi	47	26%	27%
Marazion	1,350	1.9 mi	52	31%	20%
Crowlas	1,054	2.8 mi	49.7	28%	24%
St Erth	1,128	2.8 mi	46.4	23%	29%
Longrock	1,983	4.4 mi	53.3	32%	20%
Hayle	9,040	4.5 mi	45.7	24%	26%
Reawla	1,117	5 mi	45.1	20%	28%

More about Perran Downs’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

HealthLife expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commuteIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of livingOwners and renters, prices, rents and council tax SchoolsEvery primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

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 Perran Downs’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 Perran Downs’s residents

What is the population of Perran Downs?

The 2021 Census counted 295 people in Perran Downs’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Perran Downs?

The median age was 57.6 at the 2021 Census. 5.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Perran Downs?

92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Perran Downs?

42% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 3% didn’t answer.

Is Perran Downs good for families?

21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Perran Downs’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.