Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of South Brent is over 53.2, older than 94% of UK towns
Set against 29% across England’s towns, 22% of households have dependent children in South Brent. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are common here: 30%, more than in 84% of UK towns. This Devon town had 2,643 residents in 1,185 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
What the Census says about South Brent’s people
Older than most towns
Half of South Brent’s residents are under 53.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
296 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 95% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
A +7% change since 2011: slower than 52% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. South Brent’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,600 people in 2011; 2,700 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+37%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−9%). Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 80 people.
Above 92% of UK towns: 31% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
8.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ South Brent, 53.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 78% 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%.
5% of adults are full-time students; across England’s towns the figure is 7.9%. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 77% 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.
One-person households make up 31%, against 30% across England’s towns. South Brent has more shared households of unrelated adults than 67% of UK towns, at 2.7%.
South Brent sits below 69% of UK towns for households in flats (7.5%)
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
13% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Across South Brent, 30% of households live in a detached house.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in South Brent, more than in 88% 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, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 8.6%. The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK account for 5.6%.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 94% in South Brent, more than in 67% 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: 94% of South Brent · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Chinese (0.2%). Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 59% of UK towns. Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in South Brent comes in at 41%.
In South Brent, 12% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 95% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 88 residents. The benchmark for unpaid carers across England’s towns: 8.7%. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 62% of UK towns.
A degree-level qualification for 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in South Brent, 15%, while 41% hold one at degree level (34%).
48th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Keele is the youngest (20.6); West Chiltington the oldest (63.1). Nearest to South Brent in age: Silloth (53.1), Darley Dale (53.1), Carbis Bay (53.3) and Dunnington (53.4).
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than South Brent
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Brent | 2,643 | — | 53.2 | 31% | 22% |
| Buckfastleigh | 2,720 | 4.3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 28% |
| Ivybridge | 12,485 | 4.7 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 30% |
| Modbury | 1,687 | 5.9 mi | 50 | 26% | 23% |
| Totnes | 9,217 | 6.4 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 23% |
| Loddiswell | 1,032 | 7.2 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 31% |
| Ashburton | 3,368 | 7.3 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Stoke Gabriel | 1,340 | 9.2 mi | 53.7 | 32% | 23% |
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 South Brent’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. South Brent’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,643 people in 2021, against 2,643 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 South Brent’s residents
What is the population of South Brent?
The 2021 Census counted 2,643 people in South Brent’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,700 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in South Brent?
The median age was 53.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 94% of UK towns. 8.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is South Brent?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in South Brent?
41% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 8.2% didn’t answer.
Is South Brent good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on South Brent’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. 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.