Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Bere Alston is over 52.6, older than 93% of UK towns
A household here has 2.2 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Bere Alston had 2,259 residents in 1,039 households at the 2021 Census. Households with dependent children: a fifth of the total. Just over a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 90% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Bere Alston’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bere Alston’s residents are under 52.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% 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 95% of UK towns, at 7.7%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
31% of residents are 65 or over; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Against that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
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.
In Bere Alston, 3.9% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 88% 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%.
In Bere Alston, 28% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in the village. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
In Bere Alston, 33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 73% of UK towns
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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults trails 63% of UK towns: 2.1%. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Households in flats make up 5.8% in Bere Alston, less than in 79% 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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, a third of households live in a detached house in Bere Alston. Households in terraced houses account for 27%. The village has more households without a car or van than 52% of UK towns, at 16%. Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment.
In Bere Alston, 100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.8%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 3.6%, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. Measured more widely, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97%, a higher share than 94% 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: 97% of Bere Alston · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.2%). Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. On residents with no religion, Bere Alston sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 43%. Christians make up 49% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns.
Bere Alston: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 88% 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 90. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 65% of UK towns. Unpaid carers make up 8.7% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Bere Alston, 18%, while 28% hold one at degree level (34%).
Bere Alston and its 7 nearest towns: 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bere Alston | 2,259 | — | 52.6 | 31% | 20% |
| Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel | 3,506 | 3.2 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 23% |
| Horrabridge | 1,875 | 4.3 mi | 51.5 | 28% | 24% |
| Yelverton | 1,856 | 4.5 mi | 57.8 | 39% | 18% |
| Tavistock | 12,676 | 4.8 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 22% |
| Saltash | 15,433 | 5.2 mi | 48 | 26% | 26% |
| Callington | 4,665 | 5.7 mi | 50 | 26% | 21% |
| Landrake | 1,104 | 5.9 mi | 47.9 | 23% | 25% |
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 Bere Alston’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 Bere Alston’s residents
What is the population of Bere Alston?
The 2021 Census counted 2,259 people in Bere Alston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bere Alston?
The median age was 52.6 at the 2021 Census. 7.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bere Alston?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bere Alston?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bere Alston good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bere Alston’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.