Photo: Vieve Forward · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 23% of households have dependent children in Diss
With one-person households at 35%, Diss is ahead of 86% of UK towns on that count. Across Diss, just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over. On households without a car or van, Diss sits higher than 71% of UK towns: 20%. The town counted 9,599 residents and 4,540 households at the 2021 Census.
Faster growth than 68% of UK towns: Diss changed by +12% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Diss’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,800 people in 2011; 9,900 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+25%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−7%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2016: 230 more people.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 72% of UK towns: 9.1%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 46.3, Diss is older than 64% of UK towns. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 6.8% of residents. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Hunstanton, the oldest of Norfolk’s towns by this measure, it is 44%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Diss, 46.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 88% of UK towns: 3.9% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Diss. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 92% 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.
3% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Diss: 34% of households live in a detached house, above 64% 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
With households in terraced houses at 22%, Diss is ahead of 57% of UK towns on that count. Households in detached houses: 21% across England’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Diss: 12% of residents born outside the UK
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
Residents whose main language is English: 93%, below 86% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (7.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 73% of UK towns: 87%
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: 87% of Diss · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (8%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.7%). Diss has more residents with no religion than 55% of UK towns, at 42%. What’s more, in Diss, half of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
8% of residents give unpaid care, below 84% 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
A third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). On married adults and civil partners, Diss sits lower than 77% of UK towns: 44%. Elsewhere, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Diss’s adults: 24% with a degree-level qualification and 25% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Among 413 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, the 138th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Seaton the oldest (61). Nearest to Diss in age: Ashbourne (46.2), Warlingham (46.2), Littleborough (46.4) and Chorleywood (46.4).
Median age: 6 of the 7 towns around Diss 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diss | 9,599 | — | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) | 1,117 | 1.2 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 1.9 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 3.3 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 4 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 5.4 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 6 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 7.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
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 Diss’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. Diss’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,838 people in 2021, against 9,599 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 Diss’s residents
What is the population of Diss?
The 2021 Census counted 9,599 people in Diss’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,900 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Diss?
The median age was 46.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 64% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Diss?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Diss?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Diss good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Diss’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.