Photo: Bernd Jatzwauk Pommes104 · CC BY-SA 3.00.9% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97% here and 73% across England’s towns. For Freethorpe, the census puts households without a car or van at 9%. Fewer one-person households than in 95% of UK towns: 22%. The village counted 1,050 residents and 425 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Freethorpe’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 46% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Younger than 72% of UK towns: half of Freethorpe is under 41.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over; in Freethorpe, 19%. Locally, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
Above 72% of UK towns: 5.4% 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, 8.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Freethorpe. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A higher share of households with dependent children than 87% of UK towns, at 33%
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.
In Freethorpe the average household is 2.5 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.9% in the village. Across England’s towns, households with dependent children come to 29%.
A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 84% of UK towns: 12%
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
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, 44% of households live in a detached house here. The share of households in terraced houses across England’s towns is 24%.
2.4% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 97% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, Freethorpe has 99%. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%).
Freethorpe sits above 90% of UK towns for residents with no religion (48%)
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 Freethorpe · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.1%).
Freethorpe sits above 82% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (53%)
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: 31. 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a lower share than in 64% of UK towns. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.5%, about the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Freethorpe, 26% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 16% have no qualification at all (18%).
Every nearby town is older than Freethorpe
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Freethorpe’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 Freethorpe’s residents
What is the population of Freethorpe?
The 2021 Census counted 1,050 people in Freethorpe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Freethorpe?
The median age was 41.5 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Freethorpe?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 2.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Freethorpe?
48% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.2% didn’t answer.
Is Freethorpe good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Freethorpe’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.