Parish Church of St Swithun · Photo: Delta 51 · CC BY-SA 4.0

49.4Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Below 99% of UK towns: 7% of residents are aged 15 to 24

3.1% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. Woodbury’s 787 households held 1,749 residents at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 95% here. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 25%, fewer than in 94% of UK towns.

27%aged 65 or over 4.8%born abroad 787households

Ages

A median age of 49.4: Woodbury is older than 82% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

WoodburyEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.4% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. 27% of residents are 65 or over.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1517%

15 to 247%

25 to 4420%

45 to 6429%

65 and over27%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

53% women, 47% men

Woodbury

England

WomenMen

About 89 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.

Students & newcomers

Full-time students make up 3.9% in Woodbury, less than in 86% 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

Full-time students3.9%

Higher managerial and professional23%

Lower managerial and professional27%

Intermediate11%

Small employers and self-employed13%

Supervisory and technical4.3%

Semi-routine7.6%

Routine6.8%

Never worked or long-term unemployed3.7%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Woodbury

11%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

181

residents, 10%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0.4× England’s share

In Woodbury, 50% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 14% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Here, 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.

Households

26% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 61% of UK towns

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 15%Living alone, under 66 14%Families with dependent children 26%Couples and families, no young children 42%Shared houses and other 2.4%

Against Devon’s towns and England’s towns

Woodbury

Devon’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person29%

2 people40%

3 people13%

4 people13%

5 or more4.6%

England’s towns.

Households average 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. On the census count, 29% of households are one person living alone. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 54% of UK towns.

Homes & cars

A smaller share of households without a car or van than 92% of UK towns: 8.1%

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Woodbury

Devon’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van8.1%

One38%

Two41%

Three or more14%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

The figure for households in detached houses is 39% in Woodbury and 21% across England’s towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 66% of UK towns.

Where people were born

Woodbury ranks above 98% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%

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%

Woodbury

4.8%

Devon’s towns

7.9%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language99%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.5%

Another main language, little or no English0.1%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

4.8% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).

Ethnicity & religion

Above 77% of UK towns: 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian

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

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White2.5%

Asian0.5%

Mixed1.5%

Black0.1%

Other0.1%

0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 95% of Woodbury · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion39%

Christian54%

Muslim0.1%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.5%

Other religion0.3%

Didn’t answer6%

0%30%60%

The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Chinese (0.2%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Woodbury has fewer residents with no religion than 64% of UK towns, at 39%.

Relationships & caring

56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 91% of UK towns don’t reach

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership25%

Married or civil partnership56%

Separated1.8%

Divorced10%

Widowed7.5%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

144residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 8.7%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week6%

20 to 49 hours0.7%

50 hours or more1.9%

Some 32 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison. At 8.7%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in just over two thirds of UK towns.

Qualifications

Degree-level qualifications: 48% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications11%

Apprenticeship4.6%

A levels or similar15%

Degree level48%

WoodburyDevon’s townsEngland’s towns

Against 34% across England’s towns, 48% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 11% hold no qualification (18%).

Neighbours

Woodbury is younger than 3 of its 7 nearest neighbours

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

ExtonLympstoneTopshamClyst St MaryExmouthStarcrossExminsterWoodbury

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Woodbury	1,749	—	49.4	27%	26%
Exton	1,287	1.7 mi	26	16%	21%
Lympstone	1,838	2 mi	47.2	26%	28%
Topsham	4,193	3.1 mi	55	37%	17%
Clyst St Mary	1,193	3.2 mi	46.2	25%	32%
Exmouth	35,502	3.2 mi	50.3	29%	22%
Starcross	1,687	4 mi	49.9	26%	21%
Exminster	4,388	4.2 mi	42.2	21%	31%

More about Woodbury’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

Health ALife expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commute B⁺Income, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of living COwners and renters, prices, rents and council tax Schools B⁻Every primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

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 Woodbury’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 Woodbury’s residents

What is the population of Woodbury?

The 2021 Census counted 1,749 people in Woodbury’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Woodbury?

The median age was 49.4 at the 2021 Census. 7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Woodbury?

95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Woodbury?

39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.

Is Woodbury good for families?

26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Woodbury’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.