Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0More households in terraced houses than 87% of UK towns: 33%
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 96%, above 85% of UK towns. Great Torrington’s 2,596 households held 5,958 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over. 2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 71% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 69% of UK towns grew faster than Great Torrington: +4%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Great Torrington’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,700 people in 2011; 5,900 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+27%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−6%). No year added more people than mid-2016 to mid-2017: 100.
A median age of 47.4: Great Torrington is older than 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 8% of residents. In Budleigh Salterton, the oldest of Devon’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Great Torrington, 47.4. 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.
A lower share of full-time students than 80% of UK towns, at 4.1%
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, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Great Torrington, 9.3%. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
A lower share of households with dependent children than 63% of UK towns, at 26%
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.
Nearly a third of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%. Average household size: 2.3 people. Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 60% of UK towns: 17%
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
With households in detached houses at 27%, Great Torrington is behind 56% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. In Great Torrington, 11% of households live in a flat or apartment.
4% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 78% 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
90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, against 99% in Great Torrington. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in Africa (0.5%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Above 83% of UK towns: 46% of residents said 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 Great Torrington · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.3%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 45%, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Fewer married adults and civil partners than 64% of UK towns: 46%
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 unpaid carers tops 60% of UK towns: 9.7%. Census figures put adults who have never married at 32% in Great Torrington. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%.
24% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 24% of Great Torrington’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%).
235th highest median age among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
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 Great Torrington in age: Groby (47.4), Liss (47.4), Skelmanthorpe (47.5) and Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse (47.5).
A younger town than 5 of the 7 around it: Great Torrington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Torrington | 5,958 | — | 47.4 | 26% | 26% |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 5.4 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Northam | 5,191 | 6.8 mi | 55.8 | 36% | 19% |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 7.4 mi | 58 | 38% | 15% |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 7.4 mi | 56.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 8.1 mi | 53.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 8.5 mi | 52.3 | 30% | 21% |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 9.3 mi | 43.1 | 22% | 26% |
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 Great Torrington’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. Great Torrington’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,802 people in 2021, against 5,958 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 Great Torrington’s residents
What is the population of Great Torrington?
The 2021 Census counted 5,958 people in Great Torrington’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,900 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Great Torrington?
The median age was 47.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 71% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Great Torrington?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Great Torrington?
46% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 7.2% didn’t answer.
Is Great Torrington good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Great Torrington’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.