Photo: Ian Robertson · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 95% of UK towns: half of Ashwellthorpe is over 53.8
Households with dependent children: 17% here and 29% across England’s towns. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 99% of UK towns: 0.4%. Ashwellthorpe counted 547 residents and 253 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 7.1% of households have no car or van.
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Ashwellthorpe, 16% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 97% 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%.
The share of full-time students is 4.1%, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%.
Only 24% of households in Ashwellthorpe are one person living alone
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.
The average household has 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The wider picture: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Ashwellthorpe sits above 99% of UK towns for households in detached houses (68%)
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Ashwellthorpe has 3.2%. To put it in context, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses account for 4.8%.
Above 98% 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
The figure for residents born outside the UK is 4.4% in Ashwellthorpe and 18% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in Africa (1.7%) and in EU countries (1.3%).
In Ashwellthorpe, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 82% 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: 95% of Ashwellthorpe · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On religion, 40% answered “no religion” and 54% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.2%), African (1.5%) and Mixed or multiple (0.6%).
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 90% of UK towns: 55%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 10. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%. 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a lower share than in 82% of UK towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.6%, about the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Ashwellthorpe, 37% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 15% have no qualification at all (18%).
Every neighbour of Ashwellthorpe has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashwellthorpe | 547 | — | 53.8 | 28% | 17% |
| Wymondham | 16,334 | 3.3 mi | 43 | 21% | 29% |
| Mulbarton | 3,807 | 3.5 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 30% |
| Newton Flotman | 1,418 | 4.2 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 27% |
| Long Stratton | 5,218 | 4.4 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 28% |
| Hethersett | 7,018 | 4.8 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 29% |
| Besthorpe | 1,007 | 5.3 mi | 46 | 24% | 29% |
| Little Melton | 1,049 | 5.8 mi | 48.9 | 25% | 27% |
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 Ashwellthorpe’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 Ashwellthorpe’s residents
What is the population of Ashwellthorpe?
The 2021 Census counted 547 people in Ashwellthorpe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ashwellthorpe?
The median age was 53.8 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ashwellthorpe?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ashwellthorpe?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Ashwellthorpe good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ashwellthorpe’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.