Photo: Martin Pearman · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher White British share than 91% of UK towns: 96% of residents
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Gayton has 46%. Households in flats: 7.3% of the total. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 11% here, more than in 90% of UK towns. 1,522 residents in 660 households: that is Gayton at the 2021 Census.
Gayton is older than 70% of UK towns: a median age of 47.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 24% in Gayton and 18% across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.5% of residents.
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.
A lower share of full-time students than 82% of UK towns, at 4.1%
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%.
In Gayton, 30% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Gayton: 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, above 73% 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.
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 28% of households are one person living alone here. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Each household has 2.3 people on average.
14% of households live in a terraced house, below 77% 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
Across England’s towns, 24% of households have no car or van; in Gayton, 13%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 3.2% in Gayton, less than in 89% 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
Here 99% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) or in Africa (0.5%).
Gayton ranks above 73% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 53%
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 Gayton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 37% across England’s towns, 39% of residents said they have no religion here. Typically, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.1%).
Above 58% of UK towns: 49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. For 61 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
Qualified to degree level: 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Gayton’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 25% have no qualification (18%).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Gayton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gayton | 1,522 | — | 47.2 | 24% | 27% |
| Narborough | 1,362 | 4.3 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 23% |
| King's Lynn | 47,604 | 5.6 mi | 39.3 | 18% | 30% |
| Marham | 2,608 | 5.9 mi | 30.1 | 9.8% | 39% |
| West Winch | 2,828 | 6.2 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 26% |
| Dersingham | 4,753 | 7.4 mi | 58.6 | 41% | 17% |
| Watlington | 2,593 | 8.3 mi | 43.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Clenchwarton | 2,020 | 8.5 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
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 Gayton’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 Gayton’s residents
What is the population of Gayton?
The 2021 Census counted 1,522 people in Gayton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gayton?
The median age was 47.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gayton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gayton?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Gayton good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gayton’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.