Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 56.6: Appledore is older than 98% of UK towns
Households in Appledore hold 2 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). 1,711 residents in 864 households: that is Appledore at the 2021 Census. The share of households with dependent children stands at 17%. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are common here: 41%, more than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Appledore’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Appledore’s residents are under 56.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% 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).
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of UK towns, at 5.6%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (34%), Appledore is above 96% of UK towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
Appledore sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.3%)
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 9%, against 11% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
One-person homes: 38% of households in Appledore
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.
2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%. Set beside that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
24% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 63% 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
Households in flats: 13% here and 23% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%. 16% of households have no car or van.
More residents whose main language is English than 93% of UK towns: 99%
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 4.4% in Appledore. As a reference point, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.3%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 90% of UK towns, at 96%
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 Appledore · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here and 46% across England’s towns. On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Locally, 43% of residents said they have no religion.
Appledore sits below 86% of UK towns for adults who have never married (27%)
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 carers: 10%, above three quarters of UK towns. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For Appledore, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 49%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 33%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
33% of Appledore’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
Older than Appledore: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore | 1,711 | — | 56.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Northam | 5,191 | 1.1 mi | 55.8 | 36% | 19% |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 1.8 mi | 58 | 38% | 15% |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 2.6 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 3 mi | 53.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 3.7 mi | 31.9 | 9.8% | 41% |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 4 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 24% |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 4.6 mi | 52.3 | 30% | 21% |
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 Appledore’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 Appledore’s residents
What is the population of Appledore?
The 2021 Census counted 1,711 people in Appledore’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Appledore?
The median age was 56.6 at the 2021 Census. 5.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Appledore?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Appledore?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Appledore good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Appledore’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.