Photo: Pommes104 · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 51.4: Great Ryburgh is older than 91% of UK towns
Households in flats make up 1.6%, against 23% across England’s towns. Great Ryburgh counted 718 residents and 313 households at the 2021 Census. Unpaid carers account for 12%. 8.5% of households have no car or van, a lower share than in 89% of UK towns.
Great Ryburgh ranks above 83% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 27%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. At 8.8%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in four fifths of UK towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Great Ryburgh
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%.
Full-time students make up 5.3%, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 24% of households have dependent children in Great Ryburgh
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 share of shared households of unrelated adults is 1.9%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. Households here average 2.2 people each. One-person households are rarer here than in 55% of UK towns.
In Great Ryburgh, 39% of households live in a detached house, more than in 74% 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, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Great Ryburgh has 18%. As a yardstick, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 98% of UK towns, at 99%
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
Residents born outside the UK make up 3.5%, against 18% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) or in Africa (0.8%). By way of comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Great Ryburgh: 97% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 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: 97% of Great Ryburgh · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (43%), Great Ryburgh is above 61% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.1%). Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 49% here, fewer than in 56% of UK towns.
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 79% 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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 21 people. 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a lower share than in 73% of UK towns. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 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 Great Ryburgh, 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification, against 18%.
Of the 7 towns nearest Great Ryburgh, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Ryburgh | 718 | — | 51.4 | 27% | 24% |
| Fakenham | 8,390 | 2.6 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 21% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 4.7 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 5 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 6.7 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 27% |
| Briston | 1,983 | 7.4 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 22% |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 7.4 mi | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Dereham | 20,788 | 9.3 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
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 Great Ryburgh’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 Great Ryburgh’s residents
What is the population of Great Ryburgh?
The 2021 Census counted 718 people in Great Ryburgh’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Great Ryburgh?
The median age was 51.4 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Great Ryburgh?
97% 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 Great Ryburgh?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Great Ryburgh good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Great Ryburgh’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.