Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer people live alone than in 97% of UK towns: 21% of households
57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Locally, 54% of households live in a detached house. On households in flats, Layer Breton sits lower than 85% of UK towns: 4.6%. The village had 869 residents in 345 households at the 2021 Census.
Older than 79% of UK towns: half of Layer Breton is over 48.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, against 22% in Layer Breton. The census found that 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24 locally.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Layer Breton sits below 80% of UK towns for full-time students (4.1%)
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 or semi-routine work; Layer Breton has 38% and 19%. On the census count, 7.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Bigger households than 92% of UK towns: 2.5 people each on average
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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 3.5% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Here, 28% of households have dependent children.
Layer Breton ranks below 97% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 6.3%
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
The share of households in terraced houses is 16%, against 24% across England’s towns.
Layer Breton ranks above 92% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. 3.6% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 83% of UK towns.
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 73% 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 Layer Breton · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 94%, against 73% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Here, 39% of residents said they have no religion.
Adults who have never married make up 27% in Layer Breton, less than in 85% 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
Set against 8.7% across England’s towns, 11% of residents give unpaid care in Layer Breton. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Layer Breton counts 33% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 14% have no qualification (18%).
Layer Breton 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.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layer Breton | 869 | — | 48.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Layer-de-la-Haye | 1,338 | 1.9 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 31% |
| Copford | 1,794 | 3.1 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 27% |
| Tolleshunt Knights | 1,059 | 3.2 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 19% |
| Tiptree | 9,302 | 3.3 mi | 48 | 27% | 25% |
| Marks Tey | 1,817 | 3.7 mi | 48.3 | 24% | 28% |
| Langenhoe and Abberton | 1,010 | 3.8 mi | 53.4 | 31% | 22% |
| Berechurch | 7,702 | 4.2 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 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 Layer Breton’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 Layer Breton’s residents
What is the population of Layer Breton?
The 2021 Census counted 869 people in Layer Breton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Layer Breton?
The median age was 48.8 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Layer Breton?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Layer Breton?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Layer Breton good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Layer Breton’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.