Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Fremington is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 53.6
Fremington had 5,229 residents and 2,280 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 53.6 (older than 95% of UK towns). The ONS estimates 5,400 people lived here in mid-2024, 25% more than in 2011. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What the Census says about Fremington’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Fremington’s residents are under 53.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Fremington at 4,300 in 2011 and 5,400 in 2024, up 25%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 91% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Fremington grew 25% in 13 years, faster than England’s 10%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Fremington’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,300 people in 2011; 5,400 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 age group changed most (+39%) and the 16 to 29 least (+13%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2020 to mid-2021, 270 people.
Older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 53.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 8.5% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. 33% of Fremington is 65 or over, against 24% across Devon’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. In Budleigh Salterton, the oldest of Devon’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Fremington, 53.6. 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.
33% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs
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%.
33% of Fremington’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 10% of residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns.
2,280 households: one in 4 is 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.
Families with dependent children are 23% of households (England’s towns 29%), and 17% are someone 66 or over living alone (Devon’s towns 16%). Households average 2.3 people.
The most common home: a detached house, for 62% of households
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
3% of households live in a flat, less than in 93% of UK towns; 62% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. One household in 9 has no car or van.
3.4% born outside the UK
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
3.4% of residents were born outside the UK, against 7.9% across Devon’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). 11% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. 99% of residents have English as their main language.
50% said they are Christian and 43% that they have no religion
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 Fremington · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 91% across Devon’s towns and 73% across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (1.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Chinese (0.2%).
On religion, 43% answered “no religion” and 50% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns.
58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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 Fremington’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 58% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns. 172 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
28% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
28% of Fremington’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%).
41st oldest of 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 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 Fremington in age: Rainford (53.5), Waltham (53.6), Steyning (53.7) and East Wittering (53.7).
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Fremington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremington | 5,229 | — | 53.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 1.7 mi | 31.9 | 9.8% | 41% |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 1.7 mi | 52.3 | 30% | 21% |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 2.9 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 24% |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 3 mi | 56.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 3.4 mi | 43.1 | 22% | 26% |
| Northam | 5,191 | 4 mi | 55.8 | 36% | 19% |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 4.8 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 Fremington’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. Fremington’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,229 people in 2021, against 5,229 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 Fremington’s residents
What is the population of Fremington?
The 2021 Census counted 5,229 people in Fremington’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,400 people in mid-2024, 25% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Fremington?
The median age was 53.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 95% of UK towns. 7.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Fremington?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Fremington?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Fremington good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Fremington’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.