Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats: 0.5%, a lower share than 99% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, 24% of households have no car or van; in Besthorpe, 7.4%. Census day 2021: 1,007 residents and 416 households in the village. Nearly a fifth of households are one person living alone. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 27% here, fewer than in 84% of UK towns.
In Besthorpe, 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 73% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 24%, against 18% across England’s towns. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 8% of residents. The median age in Besthorpe is 46, higher than in 61% of UK 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.
Besthorpe sits below 99% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (5.2%)
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Besthorpe, 34% and 22%. Against that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The census found that 4.7% of adults are full-time students in the village.
Besthorpe households average 2.4 people, larger than in 79% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.6% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. On households with dependent children, Besthorpe sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 29%.
Households in detached houses: 61%, a higher share than 97% 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
Across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a terraced house; in Besthorpe, 7.9%. Elsewhere, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 55% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.2%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. 6.2% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 72% of UK towns: 53%
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: 93% of Besthorpe · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Besthorpe has 39%. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.7%).
Above 91% of UK towns: 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, against 6.2% in Besthorpe. Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%.
Qualified to degree level: 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 28% of Besthorpe’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification (18%).
Older than Besthorpe: 2 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Besthorpe | 1,007 | — | 46 | 24% | 29% |
| Attleborough | 11,236 | 1 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 26% |
| Hingham | 2,304 | 4.5 mi | 53.2 | 33% | 20% |
| Wymondham | 16,334 | 5.4 mi | 43 | 21% | 29% |
| East Harling | 2,490 | 7.2 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 25% |
| Griston | 1,361 | 7.6 mi | 37.5 | 12% | 30% |
| Hethersett | 7,018 | 8.2 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 29% |
| Long Stratton | 5,218 | 8.7 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 28% |
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 Besthorpe’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 Besthorpe’s residents
What is the population of Besthorpe?
The 2021 Census counted 1,007 people in Besthorpe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Besthorpe?
The median age was 46 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Besthorpe?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 6.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Besthorpe?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Besthorpe good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Besthorpe’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.