Photo: Ian Robertson · CC BY-SA 2.07.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 97% of UK towns
55% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Costessey is home to 2,608 residents in 1,155 households, by the 2021 Census. Adults who have never married: 26% of the total. On households without a car or van, Costessey sits lower than 84% of UK towns: 9.8%.
Half of Costessey is over 49.4, older than 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 7.6% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. In Costessey, 27% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Costessey, 49.4. 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.
3.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 95% 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%.
37% of Costessey’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 8.5% in the town. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
Households with dependent children make up 25% in Costessey, less than in 76% 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.
One-person households: 26%, below 78% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. In Costessey, 3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 95% of UK towns: 6.9%
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 in flats is 8.8%, against 23% across England’s towns. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 71% of UK towns: 9.2%
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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.4%). On residents whose main language is English, Costessey sits lower than 63% of UK towns: 97%. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. A tenth of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
90% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 65% 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 Costessey · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
42% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (5.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Indian (1.6%).
55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 88% 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
64 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. The figure for unpaid carers is 9.9% in Costessey and 8.7% across England’s towns.
34% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
34% of Costessey’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 152nd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Costessey in age: Great Lumley (49.4), Madeley (49.4), Bromyard (49.4) and Stratton (49.4).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Costessey
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costessey | 2,608 | — | 49.4 | 27% | 25% |
| Queen's Hills | 4,465 | 1.4 mi | 30.8 | 2.8% | 44% |
| Taverham and Drayton | 14,989 | 1.7 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 28% |
| Easton | 1,436 | 2.3 mi | 45.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Horsford | 4,396 | 3.1 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 34% |
| Little Melton | 1,049 | 3.2 mi | 48.9 | 25% | 27% |
| Norwich | 200,744 | 3.4 mi | 37.9 | 18% | 23% |
| Horsham St Faith | 1,051 | 3.6 mi | 49.7 | 25% | 24% |
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 Costessey’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 Costessey’s residents
What is the population of Costessey?
The 2021 Census counted 2,608 people in Costessey’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Costessey?
The median age was 49.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 82% of UK towns. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Costessey?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 9.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Costessey?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Costessey good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Costessey’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.