Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 54: Panfield is older than 95% of UK towns
Nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 0.8% in Panfield. On households without a car or van, Panfield sits lower than 90% of UK towns: 8.3%. The 2021 Census counted 857 residents in 371 households. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 96%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 31% in Panfield, more than in 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, above 77% of UK towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Panfield, 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 86% 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 or semi-routine work; Panfield has 32% and 22%. The village has fewer full-time students than 73% of UK towns, at 4.3%. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
18% of households have dependent children, below 97% 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.
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone here. Households average 2.3 people. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 82% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children.
A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns: 4.4%
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
48% of households live in a detached house; across England’s towns the figure is 21%. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Panfield: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 98% 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 (2.6%) and in Africa (1.3%). Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 71% of UK towns: 4.4%. Against that, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Panfield: 53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 69% 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 Panfield · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.1%). To put it in context, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Two in five residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
Panfield sits above 96% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (58%)
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
Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Panfield comes in at 24%. 29 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Panfield’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%).
Median age: 1 of the 7 towns around Panfield are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panfield | 857 | — | 54 | 31% | 18% |
| Rayne | 2,169 | 1.7 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Braintree | 43,179 | 2.2 mi | 40 | 18% | 30% |
| Great Notley | 7,659 | 2.8 mi | 41.6 | 16% | 38% |
| Black Notley | 1,932 | 3.9 mi | 42.5 | 17% | 35% |
| Gosfield | 1,453 | 4.1 mi | 55.5 | 34% | 21% |
| Tye Green | 1,415 | 4.1 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 26% |
| Felsted | 1,233 | 4.4 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 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 Panfield’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 Panfield’s residents
What is the population of Panfield?
The 2021 Census counted 857 people in Panfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Panfield?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Panfield?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Panfield?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Panfield good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Panfield’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.