Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Dersingham is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 58.6
Adults who have never married make up 22%, against 39% across England’s towns. 4,753 residents in 2,272 households: that is Dersingham at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 9.2% here. The town has more households in detached houses than 93% of UK towns, at 55%.
What the Census says about Dersingham’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Dersingham’s residents are under 58.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 41% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
523 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 92% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
A change of +1% since 2011 leaves Dersingham behind 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dersingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,600 people in 2011; 4,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+19%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−21%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2020 to mid-2021, 70 people.
Residents aged 65 and over: 41%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: just over one in ten residents, 2.4 times the share across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Dersingham, 7.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dersingham, 58.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
Dersingham sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.5%)
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 Dersingham, 29% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%. The census found that 7.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here.
17% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 98% 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.
Households average 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across Dersingham, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. More one-person households than in nearly four fifths of UK towns: 34%. Set beside that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in flats than 85% of UK towns: 4.5%
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
13% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.5%, a lower share than 84% 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
Here 99% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%).
A higher White British share than 96% of UK towns: 97% of residents
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 Dersingham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.4%) and Indian (0.1%). Dersingham has more residents who describe themselves as Christian than 94% of UK towns, at 60%. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%. The figure for residents with no religion is 33% in Dersingham and 37% across England’s towns.
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Dersingham, more than in 92% 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
Some 195 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On average, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 53%, more than in 79% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 22% of adults in Dersingham (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 24% (England’s towns: 18%).
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 695 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Dersingham in age: Garstang (58.2), Bakewell (58.2), Dymchurch (59.2) and Woodhall Spa (59.8).
Of the 7 towns nearest Dersingham, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dersingham | 4,753 | — | 58.6 | 41% | 17% |
| Snettisham | 2,709 | 2.1 mi | 59.1 | 41% | 17% |
| Heacham | 3,978 | 4.2 mi | 60.1 | 43% | 13% |
| Hunstanton | 4,230 | 6.2 mi | 61.3 | 44% | 12% |
| King's Lynn | 47,604 | 7 mi | 39.3 | 18% | 30% |
| Gayton | 1,522 | 7.4 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 27% |
| Clenchwarton | 2,020 | 8.9 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| West Winch | 2,828 | 9.9 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 26% |
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 Dersingham’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. Dersingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,753 people in 2021, against 4,753 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 Dersingham’s residents
What is the population of Dersingham?
The 2021 Census counted 4,753 people in Dersingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,700 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Dersingham?
The median age was 58.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 41% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dersingham?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dersingham?
33% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Dersingham good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dersingham’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.