Photo: Rarb · CC BY 3.0Older than 91% of UK towns: half of Port Isaac is over 51.5
The figure for one-person households is 40% in Port Isaac and 30% across England’s towns. Lower than in 93% of UK towns: 20% of households have dependent children. 501 residents in 249 households: that is Port Isaac at the 2021 Census. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 96%.
Port Isaac ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.3%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, against 31% in Port Isaac. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 83% of UK towns: 4%
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%.
In Port Isaac, 27% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 6.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 98% of UK towns: 2 people on average
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
More households in terraced houses than 79% of UK towns: 28%
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
The figure for households in detached houses is 34% in Port Isaac and 21% across England’s towns. At the same time, 6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 78% of UK towns. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Across Port Isaac, 16% of households have no car or van.
Only 3.8% of Port Isaac’s residents were born outside the UK
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
99% of residents have English as their main language; across England’s towns the figure is 90%. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.2%) or in Africa (1%).
In Port Isaac, 45% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 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: 96% of Port Isaac · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Port Isaac sits close to the norm on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46%, about the same as across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Chinese (0.2%). On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Port Isaac sits below 64% of UK towns for adults who have never married (30%)
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
Set against 44% across England’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Port Isaac. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 14. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 55% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
32% of Port Isaac’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 22% have none (18%).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Port Isaac
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Isaac | 501 | — | 51.5 | 31% | 20% |
| Rock | 1,156 | 4.4 mi | 53.9 | 36% | 20% |
| Delabole | 1,779 | 4.8 mi | 47.9 | 24% | 24% |
| Egloshayle | 1,185 | 5.1 mi | 45 | 25% | 30% |
| Wadebridge | 5,626 | 5.3 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 21% |
| Padstow | 2,351 | 6.3 mi | 49.3 | 28% | 21% |
| Camelford | 2,983 | 6.7 mi | 42.7 | 22% | 31% |
| St Merryn | 1,344 | 8.5 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 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 Port Isaac’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 Port Isaac’s residents
What is the population of Port Isaac?
The 2021 Census counted 501 people in Port Isaac’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Port Isaac?
The median age was 51.5 at the 2021 Census. 6.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Port Isaac?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Port Isaac?
45% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 8% didn’t answer.
Is Port Isaac good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Port Isaac’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.