Photo: Adrian Cable · CC BY-SA 2.0Earsham is older than 94% of UK towns: a median age of 53
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 1% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Here, just over a fifth of households have dependent children. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 26% here, fewer than in 88% of UK towns. Earsham’s 394 households held 937 residents at the 2021 Census.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 92% of UK towns: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
Full-time students: 2.8%, a lower share than 99% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 27% of Earsham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 27%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Shared houses: 3.3% of households are unrelated adults, more than in 83% 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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. One-person households are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns. Set beside that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 88% of UK towns: 11%
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 without a car or van is 9.4%, against 24% across England’s towns. Meanwhile, 47% of households live in a detached house, more than in 86% of UK towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 84% of UK towns, at 3.5%
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
By its share of residents whose main language is English (99%), Earsham is above nearly three quarters of UK towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%).
In Earsham, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 84% 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: 96% of Earsham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.2%). More residents who describe themselves as Christian than in 82% of UK towns: 55%. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%. 38% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners make up 51% in Earsham, more than in 68% 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
35 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 9.6% here, more than in 58% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
24% of Earsham’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (34%).
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Earsham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earsham | 937 | — | 53 | 31% | 21% |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 1.1 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 23% |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 1.7 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 19% |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 6.1 mi | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Loddon | 2,247 | 6.2 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 6.4 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 22% |
| Chedgrave | 1,053 | 6.8 mi | 57 | 39% | 20% |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 7.3 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 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 Earsham’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 Earsham’s residents
What is the population of Earsham?
The 2021 Census counted 937 people in Earsham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Earsham?
The median age was 53 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Earsham?
96% 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 Earsham?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Earsham good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Earsham’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.