The Thatched Cottage · Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 1% of households
By its share of one-person households (23%), Belton is below 93% of UK towns. 9.7% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 84% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Belton was home to 3,603 people in 1,517 households. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 97% locally.
What the Census says about Belton’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Belton at 3,900 in 2011 and 3,800 in 2024, down 2%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 92% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 47% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
−2% since 2011: slower than 92% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Belton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,900 people in 2011; 3,800 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+43%) and the 45 to 64 least (−19%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, a higher share than 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 10% here and 12% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. With a median age of 47.5, Belton is older than 72% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Belton, 47.5. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.3% in Belton, less than in 79% 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%.
In Belton, 4.7% of adults are full-time students, beside 7.9% across England’s towns. As a reference point, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Belton households average 2.4 people, larger than in 72% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Belton comes in at 3%. Locally, just over a quarter of households have dependent children.
Belton ranks above 78% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 41%
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
Households in terraced houses make up 19%, against 24% across England’s towns. 1% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 41% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 2.6% in Belton, less than in 95% 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
Compared with 90% across England’s towns, 99% of residents have English as their main language here. As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%).
No religion: 47% of residents, a higher share than 86% 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: 97% of Belton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.1%). On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are rarer here than in 70% of UK towns.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 87% of UK towns, at 11%
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
Where 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, Belton has 52%. As a reference point, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Across Belton, 31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
18% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 18% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 23% hold no qualification (18%).
530 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people: this is the 234th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Belton in age: Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse (47.5), Handsacre and Armitage (47.5), Water Orton (47.5) and Hildenborough (47.5).
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Belton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belton | 3,603 | — | 47.5 | 26% | 26% |
| Bradwell | 11,632 | 1.8 mi | 47.2 | 27% | 25% |
| Gorleston-on-Sea | 24,474 | 2.5 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 27% |
| Hopton on Sea | 2,575 | 3.4 mi | 51.3 | 28% | 21% |
| Great Yarmouth | 28,979 | 4.1 mi | 38 | 16% | 29% |
| Freethorpe | 1,050 | 4.7 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Corton | 1,134 | 5 mi | 59.2 | 39% | 14% |
| Thurlton | 1,145 | 5.1 mi | 49.4 | 24% | 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 Belton’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. Belton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,825 people in 2021, against 3,603 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 Belton’s residents
What is the population of Belton?
The 2021 Census counted 3,603 people in Belton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,800 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Belton?
The median age was 47.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Belton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 2.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Belton?
47% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Belton good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Belton’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.