Photo: Julieanne Savage · CC BY-SA 2.0Cold Norton sits below 99% of UK towns for one-person households (16%)
Here 62% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. At the 2021 Census, 1,161 people lived in Cold Norton, in 452 households. Households without a car or van account for 5.1%. 5.4% of households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 98% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Cold Norton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Cold Norton’s residents are under 51 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 24% 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).
A median age of 51: Cold Norton is older than 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 10% in Cold Norton and 12% across England’s towns. What’s more, residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 69% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 10% in Cold Norton, more than in 79% 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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Cold Norton, 45% and 16%. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%. The share of full-time students stands at 4.8%.
Cold Norton households average 2.6 people, larger than in 94% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Essex’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
2.7% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Across Cold Norton, 27% of households have dependent children.
Households in detached houses make up 71% in Cold Norton, more than in 99% 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
2.7% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households in detached houses is 21% across England’s towns.
2.9% born outside the UK, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in 97% of UK towns. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 70% of UK towns, at 94%
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: 94% of Cold Norton · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 52% in Cold Norton and 46% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Mixed or multiple (2.1%), Other White (1.9%) and Chinese (0.5%).
25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 94% 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
Cold Norton sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.6%, about the same as across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 24 people. Elsewhere, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
30% of Cold Norton’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
Around Cold Norton, 1 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Norton | 1,161 | — | 51 | 24% | 27% |
| Latchingdon | 1,140 | 2.3 mi | 41.6 | 15% | 35% |
| South Woodham Ferrers | 16,029 | 3.2 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Mayland | 3,740 | 3.9 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 26% |
| Hullbridge | 5,709 | 4.1 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 23% |
| Bicknacre | 2,277 | 4.1 mi | 48.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Maldon | 23,389 | 4.2 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Canewdon | 1,216 | 4.8 mi | 37.8 | 17% | 38% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Essex’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Essex (or England), summed the same way as Cold Norton’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 Cold Norton’s residents
What is the population of Cold Norton?
The 2021 Census counted 1,161 people in Cold Norton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cold Norton?
The median age was 51 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cold Norton?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cold Norton?
41% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Cold Norton good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cold Norton’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.