Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 94% of UK towns: half of Wethersfield is over 53.1
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.3%, below 97% of UK towns. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in 92% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Wethersfield was home to 708 people in 313 households. The census found that 1.9% of households live in a flat or apartment locally.
More residents aged 65 and over than 92% of UK towns: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 94% of UK towns: 7.9%. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Full-time students: 2.7%, a lower share than 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%.
6.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, against 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
Wethersfield sits below 83% of UK towns for one-person households (26%)
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.
The average household has 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
7% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 95% 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
The share of households without a car or van is 9.5%, against 24% across England’s towns. For Wethersfield, the census puts households in detached houses at 44%.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 98% of UK towns, at 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.4%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 65% of UK towns: 4.9%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 79% of UK towns: 95%
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 Wethersfield · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Wethersfield has 39%. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 54% of the total.
59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 96% 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
Some 14 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Lower than in 95% of UK towns: 24% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.4%.
Qualified to degree level: 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of Wethersfield’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification (18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Wethersfield, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wethersfield | 708 | — | 53.1 | 31% | 21% |
| Great Bardfield | 1,372 | 2.2 mi | 49.6 | 25% | 24% |
| Sible Hedingham | 4,261 | 4.5 mi | 41.4 | 21% | 30% |
| Gosfield | 1,453 | 4.6 mi | 55.5 | 34% | 21% |
| Castle Hedingham | 1,045 | 5.2 mi | 52.9 | 32% | 21% |
| Great Yeldham | 1,824 | 5.2 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 30% |
| Stebbing | 1,061 | 5.3 mi | 48.7 | 25% | 30% |
| Rayne | 2,169 | 5.5 mi | 44.8 | 21% | 29% |
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 Wethersfield’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 Wethersfield’s residents
What is the population of Wethersfield?
The 2021 Census counted 708 people in Wethersfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wethersfield?
The median age was 53.1 at the 2021 Census. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wethersfield?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wethersfield?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Wethersfield good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wethersfield’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.