Michelham Priory · Photo: Michael Haslam · Public domainA median age of 19.5: Upper Dicker is younger than 99% of UK towns
By its share of households in detached houses (53%), Upper Dicker is above 92% of UK towns. There were 129 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 599 residents. Households without a car or van: 6% of the total. On adults who have never married, Upper Dicker sits higher than 98% of UK towns: 50%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 33%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
12% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. In Pevensey Bay, the oldest of East Sussex’s towns by this measure, it is 40%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Upper Dicker is a campus town: students living in halls or boarding houses count as residents.
35% of adults are full-time students, more than in 99% 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%.
Leave the students aside and Upper Dicker’s other adults differ from England’s: 51% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. For Upper Dicker, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 26%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer one-person households than 94% of UK towns: 22%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against East Sussex’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 3.9%, close to the figure across England’s towns. More households with dependent children than in 64% of UK towns: 29%. The wider picture: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Households here average 2.4 people each.
3.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 89% of UK towns
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
Households in terraced houses make up 14%, against 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Upper Dicker ranks above 94% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 22%
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English make up 90%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (7.4%) or in Africa (5.4%). On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 37%, a lower share than 96% 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: 80% of Upper Dicker · East Sussex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, four in five residents describe themselves as White British here. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns. In Upper Dicker, 49% of residents said they have no religion.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 95% of UK towns: 38%
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
Students and young renters account for much of that. In Upper Dicker, 6% of residents give unpaid care. Half of the village’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 38% are married, against 39% and 44% across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 34%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of Upper Dicker’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 11% have no qualification (18%). A levels are as far as 15% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
Every nearby town is older than Upper Dicker
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Dicker | 599 | — | 19.5 | 12% | 29% |
| Hailsham | 22,560 | 2.4 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Hellingly | 2,616 | 2.9 mi | 33 | 13% | 42% |
| Polegate | 10,067 | 3.7 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 24% |
| Lower Willingdon | 6,126 | 4.5 mi | 55.5 | 35% | 19% |
| Horam | 1,797 | 5 mi | 45 | 24% | 27% |
| Stone Cross | 5,036 | 5.3 mi | 38.1 | 16% | 38% |
| Herstmonceux | 1,221 | 5.5 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “East Sussex’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in East Sussex (or England), summed the same way as Upper Dicker’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 Upper Dicker’s residents
What is the population of Upper Dicker?
The 2021 Census counted 599 people in Upper Dicker’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Upper Dicker?
The median age was 19.5 at the 2021 Census. 33% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
Is Upper Dicker a student village?
Yes: 35% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (147 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns.
How diverse is Upper Dicker?
80% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across East Sussex’s towns. 22% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Upper Dicker?
49% said they had no religion and 37% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 13% didn’t answer.
Is Upper Dicker good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Upper Dicker’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.