Photo: Jolly Janner · Public domainHalf of Bigbury-on-Sea is over 59.6, older than 99% of UK towns
The share of households in terraced houses is 4.3%, against 24% across England’s towns. Bigbury-on-Sea had 215 residents in 89 households at the 2021 Census. Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.1% of the total. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 23%, fewer than in 97% of UK towns.
Above 99% of UK towns: 41% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of residents, against 12% across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A student village: 6.8% of adults study full-time
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 are about as common here as across England’s towns: 11%. The usual figure: 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.
Fewer households with dependent children than 96% of UK towns: 19%
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.
A household here has 2.2 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%. One-person households account for 28%.
A larger share of households in detached houses than 99% of UK towns: 78%
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 24% across England’s towns, 4.4% of households have no car or van in Bigbury-on-Sea. For households in detached houses, the comparison across England’s towns is 21%. Census figures put households in flats at 7.5% here.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 66% of UK towns, at 8.4%
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
Where 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, Bigbury-on-Sea has 97%. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4.7%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.3%).
Bigbury-on-Sea sits above 66% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (52%)
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 Bigbury-on-Sea · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%; Bigbury-on-Sea has 92%. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns is 46%. The census found that 36% of residents said they have no religion here.
Married adults and civil partners: 57%, a higher share than 94% 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
8 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%. Lower than in 98% of UK towns: 6.6% of residents give unpaid care.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 48%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 48% of adults in Bigbury-on-Sea, 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification, against 18%. A levels top the qualifications of 15%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Every nearby town is younger than Bigbury-on-Sea
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigbury-on-Sea | 215 | — | 59.6 | 41% | 19% |
| Modbury | 1,687 | 4.5 mi | 50 | 26% | 23% |
| Loddiswell | 1,032 | 4.9 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 31% |
| Kingsbridge | 5,682 | 5.2 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 22% |
| Salcombe | 1,583 | 6.2 mi | 58.7 | 38% | 13% |
| Yealmpton | 2,007 | 6.5 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 27% |
| Ivybridge | 12,485 | 7.4 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 30% |
| Wembury | 1,828 | 8.4 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 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 Bigbury-on-Sea’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 Bigbury-on-Sea’s residents
What is the population of Bigbury-on-Sea?
The 2021 Census counted 215 people in Bigbury-on-Sea’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bigbury-on-Sea?
The median age was 59.6 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 41% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bigbury-on-Sea?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 8.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bigbury-on-Sea?
36% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 11% didn’t answer.
Is Bigbury-on-Sea good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bigbury-on-Sea’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.