Photo: Tim Drury from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Gressenhall is over 57.8, older than 98% of UK towns
62% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Few places have so few households in flats: 1.7% here, fewer than in 97% of UK towns. There were 409 households in Gressenhall at the 2021 Census, home to 920 residents. The census found that 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian in the village.
Gressenhall sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (39%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
7.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.2% of adults are full-time students, below 75% 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%.
Nearly a third of Gressenhall’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 7.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier locally. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Gressenhall sits below 97% of UK towns for households with dependent children (19%)
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.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 31% of households are one person living alone in Gressenhall. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.7% here.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns: 4.4%
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
8.4% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%).
99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 93% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in Africa (1.3%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. 4.8% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 67% of UK towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 98%, a higher share than 99% 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: 98% of Gressenhall · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion are about as common here as across England’s towns: 37%. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Gressenhall ranks below 99% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 21%
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
10% of residents give unpaid care; across England’s towns the figure is 8.7%. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners account for 58%.
Degree-level qualifications: 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 26% of Gressenhall’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 25% have no qualification (18%).
Gressenhall is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gressenhall | 920 | — | 57.8 | 39% | 19% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 2.8 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Dereham | 20,788 | 3 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 3.4 mi | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 5.8 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 25% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 6.4 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Mattishall | 2,203 | 6.4 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Necton | 1,742 | 7 mi | 57.3 | 38% | 19% |
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 Gressenhall’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 Gressenhall’s residents
What is the population of Gressenhall?
The 2021 Census counted 920 people in Gressenhall’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gressenhall?
The median age was 57.8 at the 2021 Census. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 39% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gressenhall?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gressenhall?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Gressenhall good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gressenhall’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.