Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 41%
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Torquay comes in at 39%. This Devon town had 52,034 residents and 24,118 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 46.9 (older than 68% of UK towns). For Torquay, the census puts households in detached houses at 13%. One-person households are more common here than in 98% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Torquay’s people
A town of flats
41% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 28% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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 change of +7% since 2011 leaves Torquay behind 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Torquay’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 49,200 people in 2011; 52,800 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+28%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−12%). No year added more people than mid-2012 to mid-2013: 600.
A median age of 46.9: Torquay is older than 68% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Torquay has 9.5%. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.6% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 68% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Torquay, 46.9. 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.
4.5% of adults are full-time students, below 65% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 10%, above 74% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Fewer families than 87% of UK towns: 23% of households have children
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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.8%, about the same as across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Torquay sits above 91% of UK towns for households without a car or van (28%)
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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Torquay comes in at 27%. About one household in 4 lives without a car or van, the 2nd highest share in Devon.
Above 72% of UK towns: 9.6% of residents were born outside the UK
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 17% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. At 95%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 77% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (5.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.9%).
Torquay: 44% of residents said they have no religion, above 69% 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 Torquay · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Torquay has 89%. What’s more, this Devon town has fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than nearly two thirds of UK towns, at 47%. By way of comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (6%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Chinese (0.4%).
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Torquay, more than in 79% 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
1,825 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 77% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Among adults, 25% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of adults in Torquay (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 20% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 38 in Shiphay & the Willows to 60 in Wellswood
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Wellswood is the oldest area, with 41% aged 65 or over; Shiphay & the Willows the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Shiphay & the Willows (36% of households).
132 UK towns of 36,000 to 70,000 people: this is the 8th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Lytham St Anne's (54.4), the oldest. Nearest to Torquay in age: Whitley Bay (46.6), Thundersley and South Benfleet (46.7), Bognor Regis (48.3) and Paignton (48.4).
Every nearby town is older than Torquay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torquay | 52,034 | — | 46.9 | 24% | 23% |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 2.8 mi | 52.7 | 30% | 22% |
| Paignton | 67,509 | 3.1 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 24% |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 3.3 mi | 54 | 31% | 24% |
| Shaldon | 1,717 | 4.3 mi | 60.7 | 42% | 16% |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 4.3 mi | 57.8 | 38% | 20% |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 5 mi | 54.4 | 34% | 21% |
| Bishopsteignton | 2,271 | 5.1 mi | 62 | 45% | 16% |
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 Torquay’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. Torquay’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 52,619 people in 2021, against 52,034 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 Torquay’s residents
What is the population of Torquay?
The 2021 Census counted 52,034 people in Torquay’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 52,800 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Torquay?
The median age was 46.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 68% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Torquay?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 9.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Torquay?
44% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Torquay good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Shiphay & the Willows (36% of households). Schools are on Torquay’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.