Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 58: Jaywick is older than 98% of UK towns
One-person households: 49% here and 30% across England’s towns. 5,080 residents in 2,795 households: that is Jaywick at the 2021 Census. Locally, 1.9% of households live in a terraced house. At 71%, the share of households in detached houses is higher than in 99% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Jaywick’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Jaywick’s residents are under 58 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
672 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 14% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Jaywick has grown +10%, faster than 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Jaywick’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,800 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
Split by age, the 0 to 15 changed most (+22%) and the 45 to 64 least (−3%). In one year, mid-2015 to mid-2016, the population rose by 150, the most of any year.
38% of Jaywick is 65 or over, a higher share than 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 10% of residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. In Jaywick, 7.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Jaywick, 58. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Jaywick, 2.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer 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%.
13% of Jaywick’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In Jaywick, 8.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 99% of UK towns: 13%
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns: 3.5%. On average, 1.8 people share a household. The wider picture: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 98% of UK towns: 33%
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
By its share of households in flats (6.3%), Jaywick is below 76% of UK towns. Meanwhile, every 3th household or so has no car or van, the highest share in Essex.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Jaywick, more than in 76% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%). Jaywick has fewer residents born outside the UK than 61% of UK towns, at 5.4%. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. 6.6% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 67% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Jaywick · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Indian (0.3%). Few places have as many residents with no religion: 41% here, more than in 52% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. In Jaywick, half of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
In Jaywick, 14% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% 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
36% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 30%, fewer than in 65% of UK towns. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 309.
A degree-level qualification for 13% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
43% of Jaywick’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 13% have one at degree level (34%).
Among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, the 11th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Jaywick in age: Hemsby (57.9), Littlestone-on-Sea (57.9), Garstang (58.2) and Dersingham (58.6).
Jaywick is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaywick | 5,080 | — | 58 | 38% | 13% |
| St Osyth | 2,249 | 2 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 20% |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 53,190 | 2.1 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 22% |
| Point Clear | 1,707 | 3.4 mi | 55.6 | 34% | 17% |
| Little Clacton | 2,458 | 3.5 mi | 54 | 33% | 22% |
| Brightlingsea | 8,678 | 4.4 mi | 49.9 | 28% | 24% |
| Weeley | 1,285 | 5.2 mi | 52 | 31% | 22% |
| Thorrington | 1,427 | 5.3 mi | 52.1 | 31% | 25% |
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 Jaywick’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Jaywick’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,080 people in 2021, against 5,080 in the built-up area.
- 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 Jaywick’s residents
What is the population of Jaywick?
The 2021 Census counted 5,080 people in Jaywick’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Jaywick?
The median age was 58 at the 2021 Census, older than 98% of UK towns. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Jaywick?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Jaywick?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 7.3% didn’t answer.
Is Jaywick good for families?
13% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Jaywick’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.