Photo: Ruth Sharville · CC BY-SA 2.096% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 88% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%; Ivybridge has 25%. 6.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, a lower share than in 76% of UK towns. The town counted 12,485 residents and 5,196 households at the 2021 Census. For Ivybridge, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 52%.
From 2011 to 2024, 83% of UK towns grew faster than Ivybridge: ±0%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ivybridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,900 people in 2011; 11,900 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+41%) and the 0 to 15 least (−13%). In one year, mid-2020 to mid-2021, the population rose by 120, the most of any year.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over trails 55% of UK towns: 21%. At the same time, half of Ivybridge’s residents are over 44.5, older than in 50% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ivybridge, 44.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Ivybridge: 5.3% of adults are full-time students, above 69% 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%.
37% of Ivybridge’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 11%. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Ivybridge households average 2.4 people, larger than in 74% 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 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Ivybridge has 30%. More shared households of unrelated adults than in 51% of UK towns: 2.4%.
Only 12% of households in Ivybridge have no car or van
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
Detached houses are home to just over a third of households, against 21% across England’s towns. One household in 8 has no car or van. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 55% of UK towns.
Ivybridge ranks above 90% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 13% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. The share of residents born outside the UK stands at 4.5%.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 83% of UK towns: 46%
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 Ivybridge · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 47%, against 46% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.1%).
Only 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Ivybridge
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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 304 people. More unpaid carers than in 53% of UK towns: 9.5%. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 35% of adults in Ivybridge (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 13% (England’s towns: 18%).
174th highest median age among 382 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Ivybridge in age: Worsley (44.5), Chard (44.5), Hemsworth (44.6) and Brandon (44.7).
Ivybridge and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivybridge | 12,485 | — | 44.5 | 21% | 30% |
| Modbury | 1,687 | 3.2 mi | 50 | 26% | 23% |
| Yealmpton | 2,007 | 4.7 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 27% |
| South Brent | 2,643 | 4.7 mi | 53.2 | 31% | 22% |
| Sherford | 1,311 | 6 mi | 31 | 4.4% | 48% |
| Loddiswell | 1,032 | 7.1 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 31% |
| Wembury | 1,828 | 8 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 20% |
| Buckfastleigh | 2,720 | 8.7 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Ivybridge’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. Ivybridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,902 people in 2021, against 12,485 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 Ivybridge’s residents
What is the population of Ivybridge?
The 2021 Census counted 12,485 people in Ivybridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,900 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Ivybridge?
The median age was 44.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 50% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ivybridge?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ivybridge?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Ivybridge good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ivybridge’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.