Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0Budleigh Salterton is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 62
By its share of married adults and civil partners (56%), Budleigh Salterton is above 92% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 5,237 residents here, living in 2,562 households. On the census count, 16% of households have dependent children. The town has more one-person households than 88% of UK towns, at 35%.
What the Census says about Budleigh Salterton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Budleigh Salterton’s residents are under 62 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 46% 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).
46% of residents are 65 or over, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.6% here and 12% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Budleigh Salterton, 62. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.2%
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 Budleigh Salterton, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 98% of UK towns: 2 people on average
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.
In Budleigh Salterton, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns.
Budleigh Salterton: 26% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 93% 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
31% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 17%. Lower than in 61% of UK towns: 13% of households have no car or van. Measured more widely, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 86% of UK towns: 99%
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
Since 2017: 9.3% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.6%) or in Africa (1.1%). At 5.8%, the share of residents born outside the UK is lower than in 56% of UK towns.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 86% 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 Budleigh Salterton · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 46% across England’s towns, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Budleigh Salterton. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Bangladeshi (0.1%). Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 38%, fewer than in two thirds of UK towns.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns, at 21%
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
Unpaid carers make up 9.9% of residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 142 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 41%
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 Budleigh Salterton, 14%, while 41% hold one at degree level (34%).
6th highest median age among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Budleigh Salterton in age: Woodhall Spa (59.8), Hunstanton (61.3), Frinton-on-Sea (62.6) and Grange-over-Sands (63).
No nearby town is as old as Budleigh Salterton
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Budleigh Salterton’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 Budleigh Salterton’s residents
What is the population of Budleigh Salterton?
The 2021 Census counted 5,237 people in Budleigh Salterton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Budleigh Salterton?
The median age was 62 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 6.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 46% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Budleigh Salterton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Budleigh Salterton?
38% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Budleigh Salterton good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Budleigh Salterton’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.