Fordton Farmhouse · Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0Half of Whimple is over 50.7, older than 88% of UK towns
96% of residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%). The census found that 2.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Whimple. The village has more married adults and civil partners than 95% of UK towns, at 58%. At the 2021 Census, 1,120 people lived locally, in 499 households.
What the Census says about Whimple’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Whimple’s residents are under 50.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% 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).
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 93% of UK towns: 8%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 8.8% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 28%.
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.
3.8% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 90% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Whimple, 45% and 19%. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
24% of households have dependent children, below 81% 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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 1.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Across England’s towns, households with dependent children come to 29%. Households average 2.2 people. Few places have so few one-person households: 27% here, fewer than in 72% of UK towns.
More detached houses than 91% of UK towns: 51% of households
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%; Whimple has 9.8%. On the census count, 16% of households live in a terraced house. 2.8% of households live in a flat, less than in 94% of UK towns; 51% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 98% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.8%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). For comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. 5.1% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 63% of UK towns.
Whimple sits above 60% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (51%)
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 Whimple · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
40% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns is 46%. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.2%), Indian (0.2%) and Mixed or multiple (0.2%).
Whimple ranks below 97% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 23%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 33 people. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 9.3%, fewer than in 53% of UK towns.
41% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 41% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 11% hold no qualification (18%).
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than Whimple
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whimple | 1,120 | — | 50.7 | 28% | 24% |
| Cranbrook | 4,936 | 2.6 mi | 30.5 | 4.7% | 44% |
| West Hill | 2,109 | 2.7 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 27% |
| Ottery St Mary | 6,043 | 3.6 mi | 46.3 | 25% | 29% |
| Feniton | 1,725 | 3.6 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 30% |
| Broadclyst | 1,549 | 3.7 mi | 46.4 | 22% | 29% |
| Clyst Honiton | 1,030 | 4.7 mi | 31.2 | 7.6% | 37% |
| West Clyst | 2,683 | 4.8 mi | 32 | 8.4% | 45% |
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 Whimple’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 Whimple’s residents
What is the population of Whimple?
The 2021 Census counted 1,120 people in Whimple’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Whimple?
The median age was 50.7 at the 2021 Census. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whimple?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Whimple?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Whimple good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whimple’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.