Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 83% of UK towns: 44% of households live in a detached house
Residents with no religion are more common here than in 72% of UK towns. There were 4,926 households in Attleborough at the 2021 Census, home to 11,236 residents. Census figures put households in flats at 8.6% here. Just over a quarter of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%.
What the Census says about Attleborough’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Attleborough at 9,000 in 2011 and 11,300 in 2024, up 25%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 91% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Faster growth than 91% of UK towns: Attleborough changed by +25% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Attleborough’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 9,000 people in 2011; 11,300 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2021: 340 more people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+34%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (+16%).
Half of Attleborough is under 43.2, younger than 60% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 7% of residents. Attleborough has more residents aged 65 and over than 61% of UK towns, at 23%. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Attleborough, 43.2. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Below 79% of UK towns: 4.1% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, about the same as across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 59% 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.
2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Across Attleborough, 30% of households are one person living alone.
Households in terraced houses make up 16% in Attleborough, less than in 68% 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 trails 54% of UK towns: 15%. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
In Attleborough, 95% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 80% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
9.6% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. For comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (6.3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%).
90% of residents describe themselves as White British, below 63% 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: 90% of Attleborough · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (5.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.5%). Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are rarer here than in 64% of UK towns.
Attleborough ranks below 57% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 47%
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
On unpaid carers, 8.9% here is much the same as across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 265 residents. Lower than in 52% of UK towns: 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Attleborough, 23% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 21% have no qualification at all (18%).
Among 397 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, the 152nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Attleborough in age: Baglan (43.1), Shepshed (43.2), Great Dunmow (43.2) and Clydach (43.2).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Attleborough
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attleborough | 11,236 | — | 43.2 | 23% | 26% |
| Besthorpe | 1,007 | 1 mi | 46 | 24% | 29% |
| Hingham | 2,304 | 4.7 mi | 53.2 | 33% | 20% |
| East Harling | 2,490 | 6.3 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 25% |
| Wymondham | 16,334 | 6.3 mi | 43 | 21% | 29% |
| Griston | 1,361 | 7 mi | 37.5 | 12% | 30% |
| Watton | 11,549 | 8.5 mi | 43.1 | 24% | 25% |
| Hethersett | 7,018 | 9.2 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 29% |
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 Attleborough’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Attleborough’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,590 people in 2021, against 11,236 in the built-up area.
- 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 Attleborough’s residents
What is the population of Attleborough?
The 2021 Census counted 11,236 people in Attleborough’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,300 people in mid-2024, 25% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Attleborough?
The median age was 43.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 60% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Attleborough?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 9.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Attleborough?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Attleborough good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Attleborough’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.