Photo: Wayland Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.4: Perranarworthal is older than 94% of UK towns
Here three in five adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. 62% of households live in a detached house, a higher share than in 97% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,305 residents in 586 households. Across Perranarworthal, 4.8% of households live in a flat or apartment.
What the Census says about Perranarworthal’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Perranarworthal’s residents are under 53.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% 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).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 33% in Perranarworthal, more than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 8.3% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 7.4%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.5%, a lower share than 63% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children: 23%, a lower share than 87% 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.
Households average 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Few places have as many shared households of unrelated adults: 2.7% here, more than in 68% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 85% of UK towns: 11%
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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 11% of households have no car or van here.
99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 93% 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
The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%) and in EU countries (1.2%). Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 69% of UK towns: 4.6%. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%, a higher share than 77% 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: 95% of Perranarworthal · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 42%, Perranarworthal is ahead of 58% of UK towns on that count. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 52% of the total. Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Below 95% of UK towns: 24% of adults have never married or formed 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 49 residents. Higher than in 67% of UK towns: 10% of residents give unpaid care. For adults who have never married, the comparison across England’s towns is 39%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 48% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Perranarworthal counts 48% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 12% have no qualification (18%).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Perranarworthal
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perranarworthal | 1,305 | — | 53.4 | 33% | 23% |
| Carnon Downs and Devoran | 2,129 | 1.4 mi | 55.7 | 36% | 20% |
| Mylor Bridge | 1,534 | 2.6 mi | 61.1 | 44% | 15% |
| Penryn | 11,194 | 2.8 mi | 30.3 | 15% | 24% |
| Carharrack | 1,525 | 3 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 25% |
| Stithians | 1,613 | 3.1 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 29% |
| St Day | 1,432 | 3.4 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 23% |
| Threemilestone | 2,854 | 3.5 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 24% |
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 Perranarworthal’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 Perranarworthal’s residents
What is the population of Perranarworthal?
The 2021 Census counted 1,305 people in Perranarworthal’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Perranarworthal?
The median age was 53.4 at the 2021 Census. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Perranarworthal?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Perranarworthal?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Perranarworthal good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Perranarworthal’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.