Photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0Braunton is older than 88% of UK towns: a median age of 50.6
Households in detached houses: 42%, above 80% of UK towns. There were 2,977 households in Braunton at the 2021 Census, home to 6,610 residents. For Braunton, the census puts adults who have never married at 27%. Nearly a quarter of households have dependent children, fewer than in 79% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Braunton’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Braunton at 6,400 in 2011 and 6,100 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 97% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Braunton’s residents are under 50.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Slower growth than 97% of UK towns: Braunton changed by −4% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Braunton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,400 people in 2011; 6,100 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+7%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−27%).
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
8.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Braunton, 50.6. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
In Braunton, 4.6% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 58% 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%.
11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 9.4% in Braunton. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
Braunton households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 75% 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.
Where 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, Braunton has 32%. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.6%.
Households in terraced houses: 17%, a lower share than 62% 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 without a car or van: 16%, above 54% of UK towns. On households in flats, Braunton sits lower than 52% of UK towns: 10%. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 83% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.1%) or in Africa (1.2%). On residents born outside the UK, Braunton sits lower than 61% of UK towns: 5.3%. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 18% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 82% 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: 96% of Braunton · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 43% here and 37% across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.2%). Lower than in 52% of UK towns: 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
More married adults and civil partners than 75% of UK towns: 52%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 182 residents. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 57% of UK towns. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of adults in Braunton (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
Ranked by age, 59th oldest of 473 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.9 in Red Lodge to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Braunton in age: Danbury (50.6), Glastonbury (50.6), Washingborough and Heighington (50.7) and Werrington (50.9).
Braunton sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braunton | 6,610 | — | 50.6 | 30% | 24% |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 1.4 mi | 31.9 | 9.8% | 41% |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 2.9 mi | 53.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 3.8 mi | 52.3 | 30% | 21% |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 4 mi | 56.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Northam | 5,191 | 5.1 mi | 55.8 | 36% | 19% |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 5.2 mi | 43.1 | 22% | 26% |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 5.5 mi | 58 | 38% | 15% |
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 Braunton’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. Braunton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,314 people in 2021, against 6,610 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 Braunton’s residents
What is the population of Braunton?
The 2021 Census counted 6,610 people in Braunton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,100 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Braunton?
The median age was 50.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 88% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Braunton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Braunton?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Braunton good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Braunton’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.