Photo: Nathan Stazicker · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Praa Sands is over 61.4
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Praa Sands, 11%. More households in detached houses than in 98% of UK towns: 64%. At the 2021 Census, 412 people lived here, in 203 households. For Praa Sands, the census puts adults who have never married at 25%.
42% of residents are 65 or over, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Praa Sands has 5.3%. The wider picture: 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 an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Praa Sands sits below 84% of UK towns for full-time students (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%.
13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 95% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 4.4%. On one-person households, Praa Sands sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 30%.
9% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 91% 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
The figure for households without a car or van is 10% in Praa Sands and 24% across England’s towns. Households in flats account for 9.5%.
Above 94% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
Nearly one in ten residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 72% of UK towns: 53%
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 Praa Sands · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Praa Sands has 39%. Meanwhile, on residents who describe themselves as White British, Praa Sands sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 94%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46% across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (3.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Pakistani (0.2%).
Unpaid carers: 12%, a higher share than 96% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 12 residents. Typically, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Praa Sands has more married adults and civil partners than 83% of UK towns, at 54%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
37% of Praa Sands’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Praa Sands
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praa Sands | 412 | — | 61.4 | 42% | 11% |
| Goldsithney | 1,346 | 2.7 mi | 47 | 26% | 27% |
| Porthleven | 3,118 | 3.4 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 22% |
| Marazion | 1,350 | 3.9 mi | 52 | 31% | 20% |
| St Erth | 1,128 | 4.7 mi | 46.4 | 23% | 29% |
| Crowlas | 1,054 | 5 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 24% |
| Helston | 11,366 | 5.2 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 30% |
| Reawla | 1,117 | 5.5 mi | 45.1 | 20% | 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 Praa Sands’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 Praa Sands’s residents
What is the population of Praa Sands?
The 2021 Census counted 412 people in Praa Sands’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Praa Sands?
The median age was 61.4 at the 2021 Census. 5.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 42% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Praa Sands?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 8.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Praa Sands?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Praa Sands good for families?
11% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Praa Sands’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.