Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Northlew is over 52.9, older than 94% of UK towns
7.6% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Locally, 59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Lower than in 90% of UK towns: 22% of households have dependent children. Census day 2021: 782 residents and 312 households in Northlew.
7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 30%.
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.
6.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 92% 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%.
In Northlew, 30% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. On full-time students, Northlew sits lower than 77% of UK towns: 4.2%. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
Below 98% of UK towns: 20% of households are 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 5.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%. The average household has 2.5 people.
A lower share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns, at 1%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Northlew has 64%. 13% of households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 78% of UK towns. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 81% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. 5.5% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 59% of UK towns.
In Northlew, 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 91% of UK towns
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 Northlew · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Indian (0.3%). Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian. 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 81% of UK towns. Residents with no religion: 35%, below 83% of UK towns.
Only 23% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Northlew
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
Compared with 8.7% across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care here. By way of comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 28 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Northlew, 17%, while 31% hold one at degree level (34%).
Nearby, 1 of 4 towns have older populations than Northlew
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northlew | 782 | — | 52.9 | 30% | 22% |
| Okehampton | 9,108 | 6 mi | 43.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 9.8 mi | 53 | 33% | 21% |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 10.2 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 25% |
| Holsworthy | 3,472 | 10.5 mi | 43.6 | 25% | 25% |
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 Northlew’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 Northlew’s residents
What is the population of Northlew?
The 2021 Census counted 782 people in Northlew’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Northlew?
The median age was 52.9 at the 2021 Census. 7.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Northlew?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Northlew?
35% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Northlew good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Northlew’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.