Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Abbotskerswell is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.8
Adults who have never married: 22% here and 39% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are scarce here: 20%, fewer than in 95% of UK towns. Abbotskerswell counted 1,182 residents and 526 households at the 2021 Census. Households in flats account for 2.7%.
What the Census says about Abbotskerswell’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Abbotskerswell’s residents are under 57.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% 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).
Residents aged 65 and over: 38%, a higher share than 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 7.8%. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 73% of UK towns: 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%.
In Abbotskerswell, 40% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Fewer full-time students than in 58% of UK towns: 4.6%. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Abbotskerswell ranks below 74% of UK towns on one-person households: 27%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Devon’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Abbotskerswell. There are 2.2 people in the average household. One-person households make up 30% across England’s towns.
More detached houses than 90% of UK towns: 50% 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
8.7% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%. Households in terraced houses account for 26%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 100% 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
18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, against 3.4% in Abbotskerswell. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.2%) and in Africa (0.7%).
Abbotskerswell: 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 92% 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 Abbotskerswell · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 56%, above 84% of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across England’s towns is 73%. The share of residents with no religion stands at 37%.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 91% of UK towns: 56%
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
The share of unpaid carers tops 78% of UK towns: 10%. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 29 people.
37% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
16% of Abbotskerswell’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 37% have one at degree level (34%).
Every neighbour of Abbotskerswell has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | — | 57.8 | 38% | 20% |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 1.6 mi | 52.7 | 30% | 22% |
| Newton Abbot | 29,650 | 1.6 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 1.8 mi | 54.4 | 34% | 21% |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 2 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 27% |
| Kingsteignton | 11,945 | 3.2 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 3.6 mi | 54 | 31% | 24% |
| Torquay | 52,034 | 4.3 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Devon’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Devon (or England), summed the same way as Abbotskerswell’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 Abbotskerswell’s residents
What is the population of Abbotskerswell?
The 2021 Census counted 1,182 people in Abbotskerswell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Abbotskerswell?
The median age was 57.8 at the 2021 Census. 7.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Abbotskerswell?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Abbotskerswell?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Abbotskerswell good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Abbotskerswell’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.