Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of residents with no religion than 86% of UK towns, at 47%
The share of one-person households is 33%, against 30% across England’s towns. Okehampton’s 4,050 households held 9,108 residents at the 2021 Census. Households without a car or van account for 18%. At 26%, the share of households in terraced houses is higher than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Okehampton’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Okehampton at 8,600 in 2011 and 10,300 in 2024, up 19%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 84% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
+19% since 2011, a pace 84% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Okehampton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,600 people in 2011; 10,300 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 330 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+28%) and the 0 to 15 group least (+14%).
Okehampton ranks above 70% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 43.9, Okehampton is younger than 55% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. On the census count, 23% of residents are 65 or over. In Budleigh Salterton, the oldest of Devon’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Okehampton, 43.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 61% of UK towns: 4.6%
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Okehampton has 27% and 31%. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 9.8%, more than in 71% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Okehampton households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 63% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.5%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Across Okehampton, 27% of households have dependent children.
Households in flats make up 17% in Okehampton, more than in 76% 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
Locally, 29% of households live in a detached house. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
In Okehampton, 97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 63% 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
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 17%. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Here, 6.9% of residents were born outside the UK.
Below 80% of UK towns: 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 93% of Okehampton · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
93% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Arab (0.2%).
A lower share of married adults and civil partners than 66% of UK towns, at 45%
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
By its share of unpaid carers (9.7%), Okehampton is above just over three fifths of UK towns. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 281. Few places have as many adults who have never married: 33% here, more than in 51% of UK towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Okehampton’s adults: 26% with a degree-level qualification and 19% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 482 UK towns its size (6,000 to 12,000 people), the 202nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tidworth (28.4) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Okehampton in age: Stonehouse (43.8), Malmesbury (43.9), Launceston (43.9) and Barnton (44).
5 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Okehampton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okehampton | 9,108 | — | 43.9 | 23% | 27% |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 5.9 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 25% |
| Chagford | 1,107 | 8.3 mi | 56.1 | 35% | 18% |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 8.3 mi | 53 | 33% | 21% |
| Bow | 1,122 | 8.8 mi | 46.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Moretonhampstead | 1,334 | 11.4 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 23% |
| Copplestone | 1,475 | 12 mi | 40 | 18% | 31% |
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 Okehampton’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. Okehampton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,508 people in 2021, against 9,108 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 Okehampton’s residents
What is the population of Okehampton?
The 2021 Census counted 9,108 people in Okehampton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,300 people in mid-2024, 19% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Okehampton?
The median age was 43.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Okehampton?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Okehampton?
47% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Okehampton good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Okehampton’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.