Photo: James Emmans · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 95% of UK towns: half of Acle is over 54
46% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Higher than in 93% of UK towns: 36% of households are one person living alone. The 2021 Census counted 2,268 residents in 1,100 households. In Acle, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British.
What the Census says about Acle’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Acle’s residents are under 54 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 96% of UK towns, at 34%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Across Acle, 9.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students make up 4% in Acle, less than in 83% 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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Acle has 29% and 27%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are rarer here than in just over two thirds of UK towns.
In Acle, 18% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 97% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Norfolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Here 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. By way of comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. There are 2 people in the average household.
Acle sits below 83% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (12%)
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
7.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. Still, on households without a car or van, Acle sits higher than 65% of UK towns: 18%. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 92% of UK towns: 2.9%
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 largest groups were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.7%). For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 99%, more than in 92% of UK towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 56%, a higher share than 83% 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 Acle · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and African (0.3%). 38% of residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 67% of UK towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 79% 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
Here 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Census figures put unpaid carers at 10% in Acle.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Acle’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 22% have none (18%).
Around Acle, 1 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acle | 2,268 | — | 54 | 34% | 18% |
| Lingwood | 2,368 | 2.9 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 25% |
| Freethorpe | 1,050 | 3.7 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Blofield | 2,667 | 4.4 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 29% |
| Blofield Heath | 1,430 | 4.7 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 23% |
| Brundall | 4,378 | 5.1 mi | 51 | 30% | 24% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 5.6 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Little Plumstead | 1,915 | 5.7 mi | 37.5 | 16% | 36% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Norfolk’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Norfolk (or England), summed the same way as Acle’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 Acle’s residents
What is the population of Acle?
The 2021 Census counted 2,268 people in Acle’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Acle?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Acle?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Acle?
38% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Acle good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Acle’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.