Photo: Jonathan Billinger · CC BY-SA 2.0Saltash: 32% of households live in a terraced house, above 86% of UK towns
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 96%, against 73% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 15,433 residents and 6,813 households in Saltash. In Saltash, 26% of residents are 65 or over. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 28%, fewer than in 79% of UK towns.
A change of ±0% since 2011 leaves Saltash behind 84% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Saltash’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,400 people in 2011; 16,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+45%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−16%).
Saltash is older than 74% of UK towns: a median age of 48
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Across Saltash, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Saltash, 48. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Saltash sits below 73% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7.7%)
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%.
By class, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). On full-time students, Saltash sits lower than 57% of UK towns: 4.7%. Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Fewer families than 66% of UK towns: 26% of households have children
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.
2.2% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 29% across England’s towns, for comparison. The share of one-person households stands at 30%.
Fewer detached houses than 60% of UK towns: 26% of households
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
In Saltash, 16% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. The census found that just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment in the town.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 89% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, Saltash has 3.9%. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
More residents with no religion than 62% of UK towns: 43%
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 Saltash · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.1%). Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Higher than in 56% of UK towns: 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Saltash: 50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 63% 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
448 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 9.9% here, more than in 63% of UK towns.
Among adults, 29% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Saltash’s adults: 29% with a degree-level qualification and 16% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 47 in Saltash Town & Pillmere to 49 in Mid Saltash
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Mid Saltash is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Saltash Town & Pillmere the youngest (median age 47). Families with children are most common in Saltash Latchbrook & St Stephens (29% of households).
Among 354 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, the 67th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Saltash in age: Cowes (47.7), Otley (48), Skegness (48.1) and Huntington (48.2).
5 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Saltash
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saltash | 15,433 | — | 48 | 26% | 26% |
| Torpoint | 7,163 | 2.5 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 22% |
| Landrake | 1,104 | 3 mi | 47.9 | 23% | 25% |
| Millbrook | 2,299 | 4.2 mi | 51.5 | 30% | 22% |
| Plymouth | 266,970 | 4.5 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Bere Alston | 2,259 | 5.2 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 20% |
| Callington | 4,665 | 7.6 mi | 50 | 26% | 21% |
| Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel | 3,506 | 7.8 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 23% |
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 Saltash’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. Saltash’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,285 people in 2021, against 15,433 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 Saltash’s residents
What is the population of Saltash?
The 2021 Census counted 15,433 people in Saltash’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,400 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Saltash?
The median age was 48 at the 2021 Census, older than 74% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Saltash?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Saltash?
43% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Saltash good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Saltash Latchbrook & St Stephens (29% of households). Schools are on Saltash’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.