Photo: Mark.murphy · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Wembury is over 56.1, older than 97% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment; in Wembury, 1.6%. A fifth of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 1,828, in 837 households.
What the Census says about Wembury’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wembury’s residents are under 56.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 37% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
221 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of UK towns: 37%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 6.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Wembury. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Wembury ranks below 98% of UK towns on 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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Wembury, 47% and 14%. Residents who moved in within the year account for 9.8%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Wembury households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 78% 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: 27%, below three quarters of UK towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.8% in Wembury.
A larger share of households in detached houses than 99% of UK towns: 67%
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
6.4% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Lower than in 94% of UK towns: 7.3% of households have no car or van. Households in detached houses: 21% across England’s towns, for comparison.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
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
4.6% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Elsewhere, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 90% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Wembury · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
39% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as Christian at 54% in Wembury.
More married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns: 62%
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
The figure for unpaid carers is 13% in Wembury and 8.7% across England’s towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 43% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 43% of adults in Wembury, 34% across England’s towns; 11% have no qualification, against 18%.
No nearby town is as old as Wembury
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Wembury’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 Wembury’s residents
What is the population of Wembury?
The 2021 Census counted 1,828 people in Wembury’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wembury?
The median age was 56.1 at the 2021 Census. 6.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wembury?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wembury?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Wembury good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wembury’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.