Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Mistley: 39% of households are one person living alone, above 97% of UK towns
In Mistley, 29% of households live in a flat or apartment, beside 23% across England’s towns. Just over a fifth of households have dependent children. At 16%, the share of households in detached houses is lower than in 82% of UK towns. The village counted 1,827 residents and 889 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Mistley’s people
A village people move to
14% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
More with no religion than most
51% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 42% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Mistley sits below 90% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (8.2%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 43.7, Mistley is younger than 56% of UK towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 21% in the village. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Frinton-on-Sea, the oldest of Essex’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
3.9% of adults are full-time students, below 87% 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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Mistley, 34% and 27%. 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 95% of UK towns. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 95% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Mistley sits below 60% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (18%)
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 without a car or van make up 15%, against 24% across England’s towns.
Above 96% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
Born outside the UK: 3.5% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
More residents with no religion than 95% of UK towns: 51%
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: 95% of Mistley · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Caribbean (0.2%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. Lower than in 89% of UK towns: 42% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Meanwhile, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 95% in Mistley.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 92% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 48. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 86% of UK towns. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.3%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Among adults, 25% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Mistley counts 25% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 18% have no qualification (18%).
A younger town than 5 of the 7 around it: Mistley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistley | 1,827 | — | 43.7 | 21% | 22% |
| Manningtree | 1,676 | 1.1 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 15% |
| Bradfield | 1,254 | 1.3 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 26% |
| Lawford | 4,488 | 1.6 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 29% |
| Brantham | 2,081 | 1.8 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 28% |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 3.8 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 25% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 4.1 mi | 41.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Ardleigh | 1,042 | 4.6 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 26% |
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 Mistley’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 Mistley’s residents
What is the population of Mistley?
The 2021 Census counted 1,827 people in Mistley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Mistley?
The median age was 43.7 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Mistley?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Mistley?
51% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Mistley good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Mistley’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.