Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Gooderstone is over 54.4, older than 96% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Gooderstone, 19%. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 400, in 178 households. On the census count, 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. At 1.7%, the share of households in flats is lower than in 98% of UK towns.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 96% of UK towns: 7.5%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 31% here and 18% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
3.1% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 98% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 5.8%, below 98% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
21% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 97% 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.
The average household has 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
57% of households live in a detached house, more than in 94% 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
10% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Here, 7.9% of households have no car or van.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 86% of UK towns don’t reach
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
4.3% of residents were born outside the UK (England’s towns: 18%). By way of comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2%), then in EU countries (1.8%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 59% in Gooderstone, more than in 93% 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: 95% of Gooderstone · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Caribbean (0.5%). On residents with no religion, Gooderstone sits lower than 86% of UK towns: 34%. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 88% across Norfolk’s towns and 73% across England’s towns.
26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 89% 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
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.7%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Against that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 7.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 27% of adults in Gooderstone, 34% across England’s towns; 22% have no qualification, against 18%.
Every nearby town is younger than Gooderstone
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gooderstone | 400 | — | 54.4 | 31% | 19% |
| Stoke Ferry | 1,191 | 3.9 mi | 51.8 | 27% | 21% |
| Methwold | 1,044 | 5 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 28% |
| Marham | 2,608 | 5.4 mi | 30.1 | 9.8% | 39% |
| Swaffham | 8,434 | 5.5 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 21% |
| Mundford | 1,563 | 5.8 mi | 50.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Narborough | 1,362 | 6.6 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 23% |
| Feltwell | 2,919 | 7.7 mi | 38.5 | 20% | 33% |
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 Gooderstone’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 Gooderstone’s residents
What is the population of Gooderstone?
The 2021 Census counted 400 people in Gooderstone’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gooderstone?
The median age was 54.4 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gooderstone?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gooderstone?
34% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Gooderstone good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gooderstone’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.