Photo: Pete Cruse · CC BY-SA 2.0Plymouth sits below 91% of UK towns for households in detached houses (12%)
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment; in Plymouth, 25%. Just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership. At 14%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 96% of UK towns. The city counted 266,970 residents and 115,576 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Plymouth’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 43% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
+6% since 2011: slower than 57% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Plymouth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 261,500 people in 2011; 277,000 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 3,140 more people. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−6%).
A median age of 39.6: Plymouth is younger than 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 19% here 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+
■ Plymouth, 39.6. 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.
A larger share of full-time students than 96% of UK towns: 10%
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 27% of Plymouth’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 27%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In Plymouth, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More people live alone than in 71% of UK towns: 33% of households
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 typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. On top of that, fewer households with dependent children than in 61% of UK towns: 26%. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Locally, 4.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Above 87% of UK towns: 33% of households live in a terraced house
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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 25% of households have no car or van here.
Residents born outside the UK: 9.2%, a higher share than 71% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Plymouth has 96%. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (4.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.4%).
No religion: 49% of residents, a higher share than 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: 89% of Plymouth · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 46% across England’s towns, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Plymouth. In Plymouth, 89% of residents describe themselves as White British. For residents with no religion, the comparison across England’s towns is 37%.
More adults who have never married than 90% of UK towns: 40%
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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 8,013 people. Measured more widely, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.5%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in 54% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
28% of Plymouth’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 22%.
From a median age of 25 in City Centre, Barbican & Sutton Harbour to 53 in Plymstock Elburton
The city’s 34 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Plymstock Elburton is the oldest area, with 32% aged 65 or over; City Centre, Barbican & Sutton Harbour the youngest (median age 25). Students cluster in City Centre, Barbican & Sutton Harbour, where 44% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Plympton Chaddlewood (34% of households).
46 UK towns of 187,000 to 360,000 people: this is the 3rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tower Hamlets is the youngest (30.8); Richmond upon Thames the oldest (41.7). Nearest to Plymouth in age: Sutton (39.4), Bexley (39.5), Bromley (41.2) and Richmond upon Thames (41.7).
Older than Plymouth: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Plymouth’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. Plymouth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 269,422 people in 2021, against 266,970 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 Plymouth’s residents
What is the population of Plymouth?
The 2021 Census counted 266,970 people in Plymouth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 277,000 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Plymouth?
The median age was 39.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 82% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Plymouth?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 9.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Plymouth?
49% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Plymouth good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Plympton Chaddlewood (34% of households). Schools are on Plymouth’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.