Photo: Martin Dawes · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 50: Modbury is older than 84% of UK towns
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British here. At the 2021 Census Modbury was home to 1,687 people in 773 households. For Modbury, the census puts households without a car or van at 9.5%. Few places have so few shared households of unrelated adults: 1.6% here, fewer than in 90% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Modbury’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 47% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Only 8.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Modbury
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: nearly one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Higher than in 78% of UK towns: 26% of residents are 65 or over. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
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.
Modbury sits below 65% of UK towns for full-time students (4.5%)
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for just over two fifths of Modbury’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 15%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%. Residents who moved in within the year account for 12%.
Fewer families than 83% of UK towns: 23% of households have children
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.
With one-person households at 31%, Modbury is ahead of 60% of UK towns on that count. The wider picture: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The average household has 2.2 people.
27% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 77% 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 share of households in detached houses tops 62% of UK towns: 34%. Typically, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Households in flats: just over a tenth of the total.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 76% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 15%. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%), then in EU countries (1.8%). Few places have as many residents born outside the UK: 6.3% here, more than in 50% of UK towns. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%.
Modbury sits above 87% of UK towns for residents with no religion (47%)
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: 95% of Modbury · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.8%), Chinese (0.8%) and Mixed or multiple (0.8%). Lower than in 70% of UK towns: 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Below 90% of UK towns: 26% of adults have never married or formed 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 42. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in just over three quarters of UK towns. The usual figure: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. With unpaid carers at 9.9%, Modbury is ahead of 66% of UK towns on that count.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 46% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Modbury counts 46% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 9.9% have no qualification (18%).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Modbury
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modbury | 1,687 | — | 50 | 26% | 23% |
| Ivybridge | 12,485 | 3.2 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 30% |
| Loddiswell | 1,032 | 4.2 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 31% |
| Yealmpton | 2,007 | 5.2 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 27% |
| South Brent | 2,643 | 5.9 mi | 53.2 | 31% | 22% |
| Kingsbridge | 5,682 | 6.6 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 22% |
| Sherford | 1,311 | 7.3 mi | 31 | 4.4% | 48% |
| Wembury | 1,828 | 8.4 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 20% |
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 Modbury’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 Modbury’s residents
What is the population of Modbury?
The 2021 Census counted 1,687 people in Modbury’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Modbury?
The median age was 50 at the 2021 Census. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Modbury?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Modbury?
47% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Modbury good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Modbury’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.