Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households with dependent children than 92% of UK towns, at 21%
With a median age of 49.4, Fakenham is older than just over four fifths of UK towns. Census day 2021: 8,390 residents and 3,960 households here. Here, 36% of households are one person living alone. The share of households in detached houses tops 67% of UK towns: 35%.
What the Census says about Fakenham’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 90% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
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.
Fakenham changed by +7% from 2011 to 2024, behind 52% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Fakenham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,600 people in 2011; 8,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−18%). Mid-2020 to mid-2021 brought the biggest yearly rise, 230 people.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 7.7% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Fakenham has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 83% of UK towns, at 8.7%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Fakenham, 49.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Fewer full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.1%
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year tops 70% of UK towns: 9.8%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Fakenham households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 93% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Fakenham comes in at 2%.
More households without a car or van than 63% of UK towns: 18%
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 figure for households in flats is 9.7% in Fakenham and 23% across England’s towns. On top of that, 20% of households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 53% of UK towns. Households without a car or van make up 24% across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents whose main language is English than 66% of UK towns, at 97%
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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 12% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (4.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 6.3%, fewer than in just over half of UK towns. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 64% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 94% of Fakenham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Chinese (0.2%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in just over three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%. The share of residents with no religion trails 52% of UK towns: 41%.
Adults who have never married make up 31% in Fakenham, less than in 61% 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
233 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 46% here, fewer than in 64% of UK towns. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.4%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 21% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Fakenham’s adults: 21% with a degree-level qualification and 24% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 424 UK towns its size (6,000 to 11,000 people), the 74th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Fakenham in age: Lightwater (49.3), Tadcaster (49.4), Hollywood (49.4) and Ross-on-Wye (49.6).
Fakenham and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fakenham | 8,390 | — | 49.4 | 29% | 21% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 7.2 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 7.4 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 7.8 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 27% |
| Wells-next-the-Sea | 2,151 | 8.3 mi | 58.5 | 39% | 16% |
| Briston | 1,983 | 8.6 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 22% |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 9.9 mi | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Holt | 4,014 | 11.3 mi | 57.5 | 40% | 15% |
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 Fakenham’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. Fakenham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,012 people in 2021, against 8,390 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 Fakenham’s residents
What is the population of Fakenham?
The 2021 Census counted 8,390 people in Fakenham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,200 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Fakenham?
The median age was 49.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 82% of UK towns. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Fakenham?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Fakenham?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Fakenham good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Fakenham’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.