Photo: Rodw · Public domainA median age of 58.7: Salcombe is older than 99% of UK towns
Households with dependent children make up 13%, against 29% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Salcombe was home to 1,583 people in 818 households. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 96%. Lower than in 86% of UK towns: 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Salcombe’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Salcombe’s residents are under 58.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% 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).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of UK towns, at 38%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 7.5% in Salcombe and 12% across England’s towns. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Salcombe sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.9%)
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 13%, against 11% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Salcombe ranks above 97% of UK towns on one-person households: 38%
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Salcombe comes in at 2.7%. Across the comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. A household here holds 1.9 people on average.
Above 83% of UK towns: 20% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
The share of households without a car or van is 14%, against 24% across England’s towns. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 38% here, more than in 73% of UK towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. 17% of households live in a terraced house.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Salcombe, more than in 86% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.9%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Lower than in 64% of UK towns: 5.1% of residents were born outside the UK. Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language.
Salcombe sits above 87% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (57%)
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: 96% of Salcombe · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 36% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Arab (0.1%). For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%.
Salcombe sits above 70% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (51%)
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 carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 8.9%. For married adults and civil partners, the comparison across England’s towns is 44%. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 32 residents.
A degree-level qualification for 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 38% of adults in Salcombe (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 14% (England’s towns: 18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Salcombe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salcombe | 1,583 | — | 58.7 | 38% | 13% |
| Kingsbridge | 5,682 | 3.4 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 22% |
| Chillington | 1,074 | 4.4 mi | 56.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Loddiswell | 1,032 | 6.1 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 31% |
| Modbury | 1,687 | 9.3 mi | 50 | 26% | 23% |
| Dartmouth | 5,260 | 11.4 mi | 54.3 | 32% | 17% |
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 Salcombe’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 Salcombe’s residents
What is the population of Salcombe?
The 2021 Census counted 1,583 people in Salcombe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Salcombe?
The median age was 58.7 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Salcombe?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Salcombe?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Salcombe good for families?
13% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Salcombe’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.