Photo: Steven Haslington · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats: 30%, a higher share than 95% of UK towns
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 11% of households live in a terraced house in Perranporth. Few places have as many one-person households: 33% here, more than in 72% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 2,752, in 1,251 households. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 25% locally.
What the Census says about Perranporth’s people
More with no religion than most
52% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 39% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
A +12% change since 2011: Perranporth grew faster than 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Perranporth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,600 people in 2011; 3,000 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2016 to mid-2017, the population rose by 150, the most of any year. Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+33%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−7%).
Fewer young people than 88% of UK towns: 8.4% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 46.8, Perranporth is older than 67% of UK towns. No age band is larger than 45–49: 7.3% of residents. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Tywardreath, the oldest of Cornwall’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Perranporth, 46.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 5.3%, a higher share than 69% 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%.
At 11%, residents who moved in within the year sit close to the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 81% of UK towns: 24%
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.
Nothing unusual on shared households of unrelated adults: 4.7%, close to the figure across England’s towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%.
Perranporth sits above 60% of UK towns for households in detached houses (33%)
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
At 16%, the share of households without a car or van is higher than in 52% of UK towns. As a yardstick, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 78% of UK towns: 99%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.8%) and in Africa (0.9%). Residents born outside the UK are rarer here than in 69% of UK towns. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Since 2017: 14% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
52% said they have no religion, more than in 96% 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 Perranporth · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%. On the census count, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 86% of UK towns: 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 76. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 35%, more than in 65% of UK towns. For married adults and civil partners, the comparison across England’s towns is 44%. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.3%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of Perranporth’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 256th youngest of 514 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Perranporth in age: Tutbury (46.8), Stoke Mandeville (46.8), Pen-pedair-heol (46.9) and Sherburn (47).
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Perranporth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perranporth | 2,752 | — | 46.8 | 25% | 24% |
| St Agnes | 3,253 | 3.2 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 27% |
| St Newlyn East | 1,038 | 4.6 mi | 47.2 | 23% | 28% |
| Mount Hawke | 1,593 | 4.9 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 22% |
| Shortlanesend | 1,427 | 5.2 mi | 36.2 | 13% | 38% |
| Threemilestone | 2,854 | 6 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 24% |
| St Erme and Trispen | 1,604 | 6 mi | 39.5 | 16% | 33% |
| Newquay | 24,543 | 6.1 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 25% |
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 Perranporth’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. Perranporth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,017 people in 2021, against 2,752 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 Perranporth’s residents
What is the population of Perranporth?
The 2021 Census counted 2,752 people in Perranporth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,000 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Perranporth?
The median age was 46.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 67% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Perranporth?
94% 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 Perranporth?
52% said they had no religion and 39% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Perranporth good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Perranporth’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.