Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents with no religion than 89% of UK towns: 48%
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in St Austell, 26%. Compared with other places, households in flats are common here: 18%, more than in 80% of UK towns. This Cornwall town had 24,361 residents in 10,792 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
What the Census says about St Austell’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +8% change since 2011: St Austell grew faster than 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. St Austell’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 22,600 people in 2011; 24,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+19%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−8%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2015 to mid-2016, 340 people.
In St Austell, 23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 59% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.2% of residents. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Half of St Austell’s residents are over 45, older than in 54% of UK towns. In Tywardreath, the oldest of Cornwall’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ St Austell, 45. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.7%, a lower share than 56% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in St Austell, 26% and 31%. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 65% 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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 3.3% in St Austell. On the census count, 32% of households are one person living alone.
19% of households have no car or van, more than in 70% 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
In St Austell, 18% of households live in a terraced house, beside 24% across England’s towns. About one household in 5 lives without a car or van. More households in detached houses than in 57% of UK towns: 32%.
Residents born outside the UK: 4.5%, a lower share than 70% 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
In St Austell, 98% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
St Austell ranks above 70% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 94%
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 St Austell · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.3%).
Unpaid carers: 10%, a higher share than 76% 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
St Austell sits close to the norm on married adults and civil partners: 44%, about the same as across England’s towns. To put it in context, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. The share of adults who have never married stands at 34%.
A degree-level qualification for 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 24% of its adults qualified to degree level, St Austell compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 43 in St Austell North & Carclaze to 46 in St Austell East & Carlyon Bay
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.
St Austell East & Carlyon Bay is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; St Austell North & Carclaze the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in St Austell East & Carlyon Bay (27% of households).
81st oldest of 257 UK towns of 17,000 to 33,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 55.6 in Brixham. Nearest to St Austell in age: Ossett (45), Retford (45), Portishead (45.2) and Hazel Grove (45.3).
St Austell is younger than 4 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Austell | 24,361 | — | 45 | 23% | 26% |
| Carlyon Bay | 1,174 | 1.4 mi | 62.8 | 47% | 16% |
| Trewoon | 1,246 | 1.9 mi | 47 | 24% | 26% |
| Penwithick | 1,706 | 2.1 mi | 36.7 | 16% | 39% |
| Polgooth | 1,096 | 2.4 mi | 57.2 | 38% | 19% |
| St Blazey | 6,569 | 2.6 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Tywardreath | 2,589 | 3.7 mi | 55.7 | 35% | 20% |
| Foxhole | 1,526 | 3.8 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 27% |
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 St Austell’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. St Austell’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 24,102 people in 2021, against 24,361 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 St Austell’s residents
What is the population of St Austell?
The 2021 Census counted 24,361 people in St Austell’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,300 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in St Austell?
The median age was 45 at the 2021 Census, older than 54% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is St Austell?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Austell?
48% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is St Austell good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in St Austell East & Carlyon Bay (27% of households). Schools are on St Austell’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.