Photo: Tony Atkin · CC BY-SA 2.0Polgooth is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.2
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Polgooth, 19%. Two thirds of households live in a detached house, more than in 99% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,096 residents in 500 households. The share of adults who have never married stands at 22%.
What the Census says about Polgooth’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Polgooth’s residents are under 57.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% 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 38% in Polgooth, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 96% of UK towns: 3.4% of adults are full-time students
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: 4.2% here and 11% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 84% 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.
At 3.4%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across England’s towns. 30% of households are one person living alone.
Households in terraced houses: 5.8%, a lower share than 97% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Polgooth comes in at 8.4%. Households in flats: 3.6% of the total.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 92% of UK towns: 2.9%
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 100% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (0.9%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.8%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 99% of UK towns, at 98%
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: 98% of Polgooth · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%. Typically, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Here, just over two in five residents said they have no religion.
Married adults and civil partners: 55%, a higher share than 89% 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
Unpaid carers make up 9.9%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Polgooth, 26%, and 20% have none, against 18%.
Of the 7 towns nearest Polgooth, 1 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polgooth | 1,096 | — | 57.2 | 38% | 19% |
| Trewoon | 1,246 | 1.4 mi | 47 | 24% | 26% |
| St Austell | 24,361 | 2.4 mi | 45 | 23% | 26% |
| Foxhole | 1,526 | 3.1 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 27% |
| Carlyon Bay | 1,174 | 3.5 mi | 62.8 | 47% | 16% |
| St Stephen | 2,339 | 3.5 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 32% |
| Mevagissey | 1,878 | 3.8 mi | 55.2 | 32% | 18% |
| Nanpean | 1,077 | 3.9 mi | 40.3 | 16% | 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 Polgooth’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 Polgooth’s residents
What is the population of Polgooth?
The 2021 Census counted 1,096 people in Polgooth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Polgooth?
The median age was 57.2 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Polgooth?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Polgooth?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Polgooth good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Polgooth’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.