Photo: John Lucas · CC BY-SA 2.0Households with dependent children make up 20% in St Ives, less than in 95% of UK towns
35% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in 88% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put St Ives’s population at 5,413, in 2,591 households. For St Ives, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 3.4%.
What the Census says about St Ives’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put St Ives at 6,100 in 2011 and 5,200 in 2024, down 15%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 99% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 42% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Older than most towns
Half of St Ives’s residents are under 50.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
St Ives changed by −15% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 99% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. St Ives’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,100 people in 2011; 5,200 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +9% for the 65 and over to −31% for the 16 to 29.
A median age of 50.4: St Ives is older than 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 8.1% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that 28% of residents are 65 or over in St Ives. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9%, fewer than in three quarters of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ St Ives, 50.4. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
St Ives ranks below 77% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.2%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 27% of St Ives’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 29%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across St Ives, 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
In St Ives, 37% of households are one person living alone, more than in 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.
Households average 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
In St Ives, 28% of households have no car or van, more than in 92% 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
With households in detached houses at 15%, St Ives is behind 85% of UK towns on that count. Elsewhere, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Here, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment.
Only 5.8% of St Ives’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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 56% of UK towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 17% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
49% said they have no religion, more than in 91% 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: 91% of St Ives · Cornwall’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, St Ives has 42%. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Chinese (0.4%). The town has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 57% of UK towns, at 91%. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
St Ives: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 198 people. By way of comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. St Ives has more adults who have never married than just over three fifths of UK towns, at 34%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 31%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In St Ives, 31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (18%).
516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 90th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to St Ives in age: Llantwit Major (50.3), Wadebridge (50.4), Saxilby (50.5) and Wingerworth (50.5).
St Ives sits below 3 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 Ives | 5,413 | — | 50.4 | 28% | 20% |
| Carbis Bay | 3,967 | 1.3 mi | 53.3 | 32% | 21% |
| Hayle | 9,040 | 3.7 mi | 45.7 | 24% | 26% |
| St Erth | 1,128 | 4 mi | 46.4 | 23% | 29% |
| Crowlas | 1,054 | 4.4 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 24% |
| Connor Downs | 1,482 | 5.2 mi | 46.6 | 26% | 30% |
| Longrock | 1,983 | 5.8 mi | 53.3 | 32% | 20% |
| Marazion | 1,350 | 6 mi | 52 | 31% | 20% |
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 Ives’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 Ives’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,300 people in 2021, against 5,413 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 Ives’s residents
What is the population of St Ives?
The 2021 Census counted 5,413 people in St Ives’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,200 people in mid-2024, 15% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in St Ives?
The median age was 50.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is St Ives?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across Cornwall’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Ives?
49% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is St Ives good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on St Ives’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. 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.