Photo: Ruth Sharville · CC BY-SA 2.036% of households are one person living alone, more than in 92% of UK towns
The median age in Ashburton is 48.6, higher than in 77% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 3,368, in 1,530 households. 34% of households live in a terraced house. Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; locally, 2.2.
What the Census says about Ashburton’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 43% 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 change of +7% since 2011 leaves Ashburton behind 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ashburton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,400 people in 2011; 3,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+27%) and the 16 to 29 least (−8%). In one year, mid-2022 to mid-2023, the population rose by 100, the most of any year.
Above 74% of UK towns: 25% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with nearly one in ten residents. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 10% here, more than in 63% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Budleigh Salterton, the oldest of Devon’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ashburton, 48.6. 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.
Ashburton sits above 70% of UK towns for full-time students (5.3%)
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: 11%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Ashburton ranks below 66% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 26%
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.
Nothing unusual on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.7%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A higher share of households in flats than 71% of UK towns, at 15%
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
By its share of households in detached houses (25%), Ashburton is below 61% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The census found that 14% of households have no car or van locally.
Above 65% of UK towns: 98% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up a tenth of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). 6.8% of residents were born outside the UK, a higher share than in 54% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.3%).
48% of residents said they have no religion, a share 87% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 92% of Ashburton · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Ashburton, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 92%, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (2.6%) and Chinese (0.6%).
43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 80% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 92. At 9.7%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in nearly three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%. 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
17% of Ashburton’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 37% have one at degree level (34%).
Among 749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000 people, the 260th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Milford on Sea the oldest (64.6). Nearest to Ashburton in age: Bream (48.6), Goff's Oak (48.6), Aston (48.6) and Nelson (48.6).
Ashburton and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashburton | 3,368 | — | 48.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Buckfastleigh | 2,720 | 3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 28% |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 4 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 27% |
| Coldeast | 1,186 | 4.6 mi | 56.4 | 35% | 18% |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 5.4 mi | 54.4 | 34% | 21% |
| Heathfield | 1,496 | 5.5 mi | 37.5 | 11% | 30% |
| Bovey Tracey | 6,241 | 5.9 mi | 54.4 | 35% | 21% |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 6.1 mi | 57.8 | 38% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Ashburton’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. Ashburton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,497 people in 2021, against 3,368 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 Ashburton’s residents
What is the population of Ashburton?
The 2021 Census counted 3,368 people in Ashburton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,700 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ashburton?
The median age was 48.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 77% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashburton?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 6.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashburton?
48% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Ashburton good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ashburton’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.