Photo: Mick Knapton · CC BY-SA 3.0A median age of 58.1: Polperro is older than 99% of UK towns
In Polperro, just over one in ten households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 7.5%. 20% of households have no car or van, a higher share than in 71% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 574 residents and 281 households here.
36% of Polperro is 65 or over, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. 6.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 99% of UK towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students make up 1.7% in Polperro, less than in 99% 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: 8.2% here and 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
2 people per household, fewer than in 99% 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.
Where 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, Polperro has 36%.
Households in detached houses: 25%, a lower share than 63% 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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in flats account for 22%.
In Polperro, 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 74% 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
5.7% of residents were born outside the UK, against 5.5% across Cornwall’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Set beside that, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 74% of UK towns: 45%
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 Polperro · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.7%), Indian (0.5%) and Mixed or multiple (0.4%). By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 66% of UK towns: 94%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 47% here and 46% across England’s towns.
26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 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
In Polperro, one in ten residents give unpaid care, beside 8.7% across England’s towns. On the census count, 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. As a yardstick, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
22% of Polperro’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (34%).
Every nearby town is younger than Polperro
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polperro | 574 | — | 58.1 | 36% | 12% |
| Pelynt | 1,144 | 2.5 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 20% |
| Looe | 5,314 | 3.5 mi | 55.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Fowey | 2,027 | 5.4 mi | 55 | 33% | 20% |
| Tywardreath | 2,589 | 8 mi | 55.7 | 35% | 20% |
| Lostwithiel | 3,067 | 8.4 mi | 51.6 | 29% | 21% |
| Dobwalls | 1,683 | 8.5 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 24% |
| Liskeard | 10,901 | 8.8 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 26% |
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 Polperro’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 Polperro’s residents
What is the population of Polperro?
The 2021 Census counted 574 people in Polperro’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Polperro?
The median age was 58.1 at the 2021 Census. 6.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Polperro?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Polperro?
45% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Polperro good for families?
12% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Polperro’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.