Photo: Keith Edkins · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 55.5: Debden is older than 97% of UK towns
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, one in ten households live in a terraced house here. At the 2021 Census Debden was home to 320 people in 144 households. Census figures put households without a car or van at 6.3% in the village. 13% of residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 99% of UK towns.
In Debden, 34% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 8.7%, against 12% across England’s towns. By way of 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.
Only 2.9% of adults are full-time students in Debden
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%.
Against a figure of 11% across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year in Debden comes in at 7.3%. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 17% in Debden, less than in 98% 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.
In Debden the average household is 2.2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Households with dependent children make up 29% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.8% of the total. Fewer one-person households than in 63% of UK towns: 28%.
3.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 91% 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
Where just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Debden has 40%. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 99% of UK towns: 100%
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 (3.1%) and in Africa (1.3%). Typically, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK make up 5.6%, against 18% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 57% in Debden, more than in 88% 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: 96% of Debden · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.3%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 84% of UK towns: 96%. Debden sits close to the norm on residents with no religion: 37%, about the same as across England’s towns.
26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 88% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 6. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 54%, more than in 87% of UK towns. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
36% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
16% of Debden’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 36% have one at degree level (34%).
Every neighbour of Debden has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debden | 320 | — | 55.5 | 34% | 17% |
| Newport | 2,945 | 2.5 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 32% |
| Saffron Walden | 16,609 | 3.2 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Henham | 1,046 | 3.3 mi | 48.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Thaxted | 3,111 | 3.7 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Elsenham | 3,414 | 4.4 mi | 38.6 | 16% | 36% |
| Stansted Mountfitchet | 8,629 | 6 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 34% |
| Great Chesterford | 1,775 | 6.8 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 35% |
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 Debden’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 Debden’s residents
What is the population of Debden?
The 2021 Census counted 320 people in Debden’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Debden?
The median age was 55.5 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Debden?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Debden?
37% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Debden good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Debden’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.