Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 54.4: Bovey Tracey is older than 96% of UK towns
Adults who have never married: 23% here and 39% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 6,241 residents in 2,904 households. Here, just over a fifth of households have dependent children. Higher than in 73% of UK towns: 33% of households are one person living alone.
What the Census says about Bovey Tracey’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bovey Tracey’s residents are under 54.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 35% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Bovey Tracey at 4,700 in 2011 and 5,800 in 2024, up 22%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 89% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Many carers
691 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
Faster growth than 89% of UK towns: Bovey Tracey changed by +22% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bovey Tracey’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,700 people in 2011; 5,800 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +81% for the 16 to 29 to +8% for the 30 to 44. The biggest one-year rise was mid-2017 to mid-2018, 270 people.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 35% in Bovey Tracey, more than in 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 7.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bovey Tracey, 54.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Full-time students make up 4.3% in Bovey Tracey, less than in 73% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 40% of Bovey Tracey’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 21%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across Bovey Tracey, 9.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 88% 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 census found that 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Bovey Tracey.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 84% of UK towns, at 44%
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Bovey Tracey comes in at 9.4%. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%. Across Bovey Tracey, just over one in ten households have no car or van. This Devon town has fewer households in terraced houses than 58% of UK towns, at 18%.
Above 95% of UK towns: 99% 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
Born outside the UK: 4.5% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.4%), then in Africa (1.1%). Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 89% 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: 96% of Bovey Tracey · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and African (0.3%). Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Higher than in 59% of UK towns: 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian. 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, against 41% in Bovey Tracey.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 93% of UK towns, at 12%
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
23% of Bovey Tracey’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 54% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Bovey Tracey, 37% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 14% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 51 in Heathfield & Liverton to 61 in Moretonhampstead, Lustleigh & East Dartmoor
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Moretonhampstead, Lustleigh & East Dartmoor is the oldest area, with 44% aged 65 or over; Heathfield & Liverton the youngest (median age 51). Families with children are most common in Heathfield & Liverton (24% of households).
39th oldest of 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Bovey Tracey in age: Dartmouth (54.3), Tenterden (54.4), Freckleton (54.6) and Penrhyn Bay (54.6).
Bovey Tracey is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovey Tracey | 6,241 | — | 54.4 | 35% | 21% |
| Heathfield | 1,496 | 1.9 mi | 37.5 | 11% | 30% |
| Coldeast | 1,186 | 2.1 mi | 56.4 | 35% | 18% |
| Chudleigh Knighton | 1,168 | 2.2 mi | 49.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Chudleigh | 4,372 | 3.6 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Kingsteignton | 11,945 | 4.6 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Newton Abbot | 29,650 | 5.2 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 5.7 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 27% |
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 Bovey Tracey’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. Bovey Tracey’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,666 people in 2021, against 6,241 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 Bovey Tracey’s residents
What is the population of Bovey Tracey?
The 2021 Census counted 6,241 people in Bovey Tracey’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,800 people in mid-2024, 22% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bovey Tracey?
The median age was 54.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 96% of UK towns. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bovey Tracey?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bovey Tracey?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Bovey Tracey good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Heathfield & Liverton (24% of households). Schools are on Bovey Tracey’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.