Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0Petrockstowe is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 58.4
7.9% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Census day 2021: 390 residents and 175 households in Petrockstowe. Across Petrockstowe, 13% of households have dependent children. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 98% of UK towns.
37% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
3.1% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 98% 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%.
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 71% 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.
29% of households are one person living alone (England’s towns: 30%). For Petrockstowe, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 4.6%.
Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.6% 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
Households in terraced houses: 4.5% here and 24% across England’s towns. For households in flats, the comparison across England’s towns is 23%. The census found that nearly three quarters of households live in a detached house in Petrockstowe.
Above 99% of UK towns: 100% of residents have English as their main language
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.3%) and in Africa (1%). 3.6% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
A higher White British share than 99% of UK towns: 98% of residents
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: 98% of Petrockstowe · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 64%, Petrockstowe is ahead of 98% of UK towns on that count. By way of comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Across Petrockstowe, 28% of residents said they have no religion.
Unpaid carers make up 13% in Petrockstowe, more than in 99% of UK towns
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
Here 58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
21% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Petrockstowe counts 21% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 24% have no qualification (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Petrockstowe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrockstowe | 390 | — | 58.4 | 37% | 13% |
| Great Torrington | 5,958 | 6.1 mi | 47.4 | 26% | 26% |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 7.5 mi | 53 | 33% | 21% |
| Okehampton | 9,108 | 10.1 mi | 43.9 | 23% | 27% |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 10.6 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 25% |
| Holsworthy | 3,472 | 11 mi | 43.6 | 25% | 25% |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 11.2 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Chulmleigh | 1,232 | 11.2 mi | 54.1 | 33% | 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 Petrockstowe’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 Petrockstowe’s residents
What is the population of Petrockstowe?
The 2021 Census counted 390 people in Petrockstowe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Petrockstowe?
The median age was 58.4 at the 2021 Census. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Petrockstowe?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Petrockstowe?
28% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Petrockstowe good for families?
13% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Petrockstowe’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.