Photo: habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents with no religion than 71% of UK towns: 44%
Residents aged 65 and over: 24%, above nearly two thirds of UK towns. Dereham counted 20,788 residents and 9,115 households at the 2021 Census. The share of households in detached houses stands at 36%. On married adults and civil partners, Dereham sits lower than 62% of UK towns: 46%.
+6% since 2011: slower than 57% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dereham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 20,400 people in 2011; 21,600 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+22%) and the 0 to 15 group least (−4%). Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 320, its biggest one-year gain.
Dereham: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.2% of residents. As a yardstick, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The median age in Dereham is 44.7, higher than in just over half of UK towns. In Hunstanton, the oldest of Norfolk’s towns by this measure, it is 44%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dereham, 44.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of full-time students than 68% of UK towns, at 4.4%
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%.
By class, 27% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 9.1% in Dereham.
Smaller households than 57% of UK towns: 2.3 people on average
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.
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Dereham, 27%. The share of one-person households stands at 31%. 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 52% of UK towns.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 56% of UK towns: 16%
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: 21% here and 24% across England’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 11%. Every 6th household or so has no car or van.
Dereham sits below 71% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (96%)
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
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK in Dereham comes in at 7.2%. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (4.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 58% 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: 92% of Dereham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (4.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.3%). Dereham has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 52% of UK towns, at 92%. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
33% of adults have never married, more than in 53% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 585. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 9.1%, fewer than in 57% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 21% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Dereham counts 21% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 21% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in Dereham West, Necton & Gressenhall to 47 in Dereham North & Neatherd
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Dereham North & Neatherd is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Dereham West, Necton & Gressenhall the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Dereham West, Necton & Gressenhall (34% of households).
Of 273 UK towns its size (15,000 to 28,000 people), the 105th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bangor (26.4), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Dereham in age: Amersham (44.5), Cobham (44.6), Worcester Park and Stoneleigh (44.7) and Stamford (44.8).
Of the 7 towns nearest Dereham, 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dereham | 20,788 | — | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 3.2 mi | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 3.7 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 25% |
| Mattishall | 2,203 | 3.8 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 19% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 4.8 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Hingham | 2,304 | 6.9 mi | 53.2 | 33% | 20% |
| Necton | 1,742 | 7.2 mi | 57.3 | 38% | 19% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 7.8 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
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 Dereham’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. Dereham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 20,864 people in 2021, against 20,788 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 Dereham’s residents
What is the population of Dereham?
The 2021 Census counted 20,788 people in Dereham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 21,600 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dereham?
The median age was 44.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 51% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dereham?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 7.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dereham?
44% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Dereham good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Dereham West, Necton & Gressenhall (34% of households). Schools are on Dereham’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.