Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Northam is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55.8
Northam had 5,191 residents and 2,488 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 55.8 (older than 97% of UK towns). The ONS estimates 5,200 people lived here in mid-2024, 1% more than in 2011. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What the Census says about Northam’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Northam’s residents are under 55.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 36% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
Northam grew 1% in 13 years, more slowly than England’s 10%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Northam’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,100 people in 2011; 5,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+14%) and the 30 to 44 least (−25%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 50 people.
Older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 8.8% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. 36% of Northam 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+
■ Northam, 55.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
31% 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%.
31% of Northam’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 7.5% of residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns.
2,488 households: one in 3 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 19% of households (England’s towns 29%), and 21% are someone 66 or over living alone (Devon’s towns 16%). Households average 2.1 people.
The most common home: a detached house, for 48% 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
10% of households live in a flat, less than in 53% of UK towns; 48% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. One household in 6 has no car or van.
3.2% born outside the UK, the fewest of any Devon town
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
3.2% 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 Africa (0.6%). 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.
51% said they are Christian and 40% 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: 97% of Northam · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
97% 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 (1.5%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.2%).
On religion, 40% answered “no religion” and 51% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns.
51% 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
24% of Northam’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 51% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns. 206 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 Northam’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 19% have none (18%).
21st 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 Northam in age: Lower Willingdon (55.5), Looe (55.6), Ventnor (56) and Great Ayton (56.1).
2 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Northam
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northam | 5,191 | — | 55.8 | 36% | 19% |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 0.9 mi | 58 | 38% | 15% |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 1.1 mi | 56.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 1.6 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 4 mi | 53.6 | 33% | 23% |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 4.8 mi | 31.9 | 9.8% | 41% |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 5.1 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 24% |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 5.6 mi | 52.3 | 30% | 21% |
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 Northam’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. Northam’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,124 people in 2021, against 5,191 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 Northam’s residents
What is the population of Northam?
The 2021 Census counted 5,191 people in Northam’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,200 people in mid-2024, 1% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Northam?
The median age was 55.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 97% of UK towns. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Northam?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Northam?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.
Is Northam good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Northam’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.