Photo: Martin Bodman · CC BY-SA 2.0Chawleigh is older than 96% of UK towns: a median age of 54.2
Households in flats make up 1.1%, against 23% across England’s towns. On households in detached houses, Chawleigh sits higher than 94% of UK towns: 55%. The 2021 Census counted 640 residents in 272 households. A fifth of households have dependent children.
Chawleigh ranks above 90% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 3.9% of adults are full-time students in Chawleigh
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Chawleigh has 30% and 19%. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns. 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Only 24% of households in Chawleigh are one person living alone
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.
Here 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%. On average, 2.3 people share a household.
In Chawleigh, 6.6% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 96% 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
The figure for households in terraced houses is 18% in Chawleigh and 24% across England’s towns. One household in 15 has no car or van.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Chawleigh, more than in 84% 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
With residents born outside the UK at 5%, Chawleigh is behind 64% of UK towns on that count. Elsewhere, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%).
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 85% 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 Chawleigh · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents who describe themselves as Christian (56%), Chawleigh is above 84% of UK towns. Residents with no religion account for 36%. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 96% 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 share of adults who have never married is 27%, against 39% across England’s towns. Fewer unpaid carers than in 54% of UK towns: 9.2%. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 13 people.
30% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Chawleigh, 30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 19% have no qualification at all (18%).
The towns around Chawleigh are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chawleigh | 640 | — | 54.2 | 30% | 20% |
| Chulmleigh | 1,232 | 2.1 mi | 54.1 | 33% | 20% |
| Morchard Bishop | 1,041 | 4.6 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 24% |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 5.7 mi | 53 | 33% | 21% |
| Witheridge | 1,306 | 5.8 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 23% |
| Bow | 1,122 | 6.7 mi | 46.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Copplestone | 1,475 | 6.9 mi | 40 | 18% | 31% |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 7.3 mi | 46.5 | 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 Chawleigh’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 Chawleigh’s residents
What is the population of Chawleigh?
The 2021 Census counted 640 people in Chawleigh’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chawleigh?
The median age was 54.2 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chawleigh?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chawleigh?
36% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.2% didn’t answer.
Is Chawleigh good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chawleigh’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.