Photo: BazzaDaRambler · CC BY 2.0Sandford is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 53.6
1.7% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: a quarter of the total. Few places have as many residents with no religion: 47% here, more than in 86% of UK towns. There were 292 households in Sandford at the 2021 Census, home to 637 residents.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.8%, a lower share than 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. 31% of residents are 65 or over. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Sandford sits below 98% of UK towns for full-time students (3.1%)
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, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Sandford, 9.4%. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.4% in Sandford, less than in 95% 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.
The share of one-person households tops 79% of UK towns: 34%. Typically, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. On average, 2.1 people share a household. At 25%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 72% of UK towns.
Above 74% of UK towns: 26% 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
Households without a car or van make up 13%, against 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 29% of households live in a detached house in Sandford.
Residents born outside the UK: 2.7%, a lower share than 95% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (0.9%) and in Africa (0.9%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 100%, more than in 99% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 85% of UK towns: 96%
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 Sandford · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Sandford: 52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 77% 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
For 15 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 11% here, more than in 83% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
22% of Sandford’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 38% have one at degree level (34%).
Sandford is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandford | 637 | — | 53.6 | 31% | 25% |
| Crediton | 7,971 | 1.2 mi | 45.2 | 24% | 25% |
| Copplestone | 1,475 | 3.6 mi | 40 | 18% | 31% |
| Morchard Bishop | 1,041 | 4.9 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 24% |
| Bow | 1,122 | 6.7 mi | 46.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Witheridge | 1,306 | 7.6 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 23% |
| Silverton | 1,501 | 8 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 22% |
| Exeter | 126,181 | 8.8 mi | 35.1 | 16% | 24% |
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 Sandford’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 Sandford’s residents
What is the population of Sandford?
The 2021 Census counted 637 people in Sandford’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sandford?
The median age was 53.6 at the 2021 Census. 6.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sandford?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sandford?
47% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Sandford good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sandford’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.