Photo: Touriste · Public domainSidmouth is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 60.4
The average household has 2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. 16% of households have dependent children. Sidmouth has fewer adults who have never married than 98% of UK towns, at 22%. Census day 2021: 13,258 residents and 6,453 households in the town.
What the Census says about Sidmouth’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Sidmouth’s residents are under 60.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 43% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Sidmouth grew +8% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sidmouth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,500 people in 2011; 12,400 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2013 to mid-2014: 220 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+15%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−6%).
More residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns: 43%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
7% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sidmouth, 60.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
3.6% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 94% 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%.
Here one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, where the figure across England’s towns is 11%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More one-person households than 90% of UK towns: 36%
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.
2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Households in flats: 21%, a higher share than 85% 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
Households without a car or van make up 18%, against 24% across England’s towns. More households in detached houses than in 72% of UK towns: 38%. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%.
7.4% born outside the UK, more than in 59% 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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Sidmouth has fewer residents whose main language is English than 50% of UK towns, at 98%. Since 2017: 14% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 78% of UK towns: 54%
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 Sidmouth · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 37%, residents with no religion sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White British: 93% here, more than in 59% of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.4%).
Above 83% of UK towns: 54% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care (England’s towns: 8.7%). Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 405 people.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Sidmouth, 37%, and 14% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 55 in Sidmouth Sidford to 69 in Sidbury, Offwell & Beer
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Sidbury, Offwell & Beer is the oldest area, with 59% aged 65 or over; Sidmouth Sidford the youngest (median age 55). Families with children are most common in Sidmouth Sidford (21% of households).
1st highest median age among 406 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Sidmouth in age: Selsey (57.2) and Ferndown (58.6).
Of the 7 towns nearest Sidmouth, 1 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidmouth | 13,258 | — | 60.4 | 43% | 16% |
| Newton Poppleford | 1,918 | 2.7 mi | 51 | 29% | 23% |
| Ottery St Mary | 6,043 | 4.4 mi | 46.3 | 25% | 29% |
| West Hill | 2,109 | 4.6 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 27% |
| Budleigh Salterton | 5,237 | 5.5 mi | 62 | 46% | 16% |
| Beer | 1,280 | 6.3 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 19% |
| Feniton | 1,725 | 6.8 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 30% |
| Woodbury | 1,749 | 7.1 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 26% |
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 Sidmouth’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. Sidmouth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,270 people in 2021, against 13,258 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 Sidmouth’s residents
What is the population of Sidmouth?
The 2021 Census counted 13,258 people in Sidmouth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,400 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sidmouth?
The median age was 60.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 43% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sidmouth?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sidmouth?
37% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Sidmouth good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Sidmouth Sidford (21% of households). Schools are on Sidmouth’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.