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Happisburgh - view from the church towerPhoto: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0
57.6Median age
Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Happisburgh is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.6

Households in flats: 0.6%, below 99% of UK towns. Still, 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a higher share than in 94% of UK towns. Happisburgh is home to 340 residents in 162 households, by the 2021 Census. Locally, 69% of households live in a detached house.

Ages

5.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 99% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

HappisburghEngland’s towns
0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

Across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 18%; Happisburgh has 34%. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1513%
15 to 245.9%
25 to 4413%
45 to 6434%
65 and over34%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

50% women, 50% men

Happisburgh
England
WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

Full-time students: 3.7%, a lower share than 91% 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

Full-time students3.7%
Higher managerial and professional11%
Lower managerial and professional21%
Intermediate9.4%
Small employers and self-employed18%
Supervisory and technical7.7%
Semi-routine13%
Routine11%
Never worked or long-term unemployed5.1%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Happisburgh
12%
England’s towns
11%
Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad
Moved in within a year
39
residents, 12%; England’s towns 11%
Of them from abroad
0
0× England’s share

Managerial and professional jobs take in 31% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 25% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 12% in Happisburgh. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.

Households

Households with dependent children: 20%, a lower share than 94% of UK towns

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 20%Living alone, under 66 12%Families with dependent children 20%Couples and families, no young children 46%Shared houses and other 1.9%

Against Norfolk’s towns and England’s towns

Happisburgh
Norfolk’s towns
England’s towns

People per household

1 person31%
2 people47%
3 people9.6%
4 people11%
5 or more1.8%

England’s towns.

The share of one-person households tops 69% of UK towns: 32%. The usual figure: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.1 people on average. On shared households of unrelated adults, Happisburgh sits lower than 77% of UK towns: 1.9%.

Homes & cars

A smaller share of households without a car or van than 97% of UK towns: 6%

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Happisburgh
Norfolk’s towns
England’s towns
DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van6%
One45%
Two36%
Three or more13%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns

Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 9.6% of households live in a terraced house here. Add to that, every 17th household or so has no car or van.

Where people were born

Residents born outside the UK: 2.1%, a lower share than 99% 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%

Happisburgh
2.1%
Norfolk’s towns
10%
England’s towns
18%
EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language100%
Another main language, speaks English very well or well0%
Another main language, little or no English0%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns

Residents whose main language is English make up 100%, against 90% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (0.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%).

Ethnicity & religion

97% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 98% 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

HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns
Other White2.4%
Asian0%
Mixed0%
Black0.3%
Other0%
0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 97% of Happisburgh · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns
No religion45%
Christian49%
Muslim0%
Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0%
Other religion0.9%
Didn’t answer4.4%
0%30%60%

Residents with no religion: 45%, above 78% of UK towns. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The census found that nearly half of residents describe themselves as Christian in Happisburgh.

Relationships & caring

Below 98% of UK towns: 23% of adults have never married or formed 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

Never married or in a civil partnership23%
Married or civil partnership57%
Separated1.7%
Divorced9.5%
Widowed8.8%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns
26residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 7.8%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week4.2%
20 to 49 hours1.5%
50 hours or more2.1%

Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 7 people. Fewer unpaid carers than in 88% of UK towns: 7.8%. Against that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.

Qualifications

Degree-level qualifications reach 27% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship9.4%
A levels or similar13%
Degree level27%
HappisburghNorfolk’s townsEngland’s towns

Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Happisburgh, 27%, and 18% have none, against 18%.

Neighbours

Median age: 1 of the 7 towns around Happisburgh are older

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

StalhamSuttonMundesleyNorth WalshamBadersfieldMarthamHoveton and WroxhamHappisburgh
under 3838–4444–5050–5656+
TownPeopleAwayMedian age65+Homes with children
Happisburgh340—57.634%20%
Stalham3,3833.6 mi4929%20%
Sutton1,0264.2 mi50.629%25%
Mundesley2,7776 mi58.740%15%
North Walsham12,8296 mi50.229%21%
Badersfield1,4908.9 mi37.912%40%
Martham3,6338.9 mi50.429%24%
Hoveton and Wroxham3,6209.1 mi56.438%19%
More about Happisburgh’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

How to read these numbers

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 Happisburgh’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 Happisburgh’s residents

What is the population of Happisburgh?

The 2021 Census counted 340 people in Happisburgh’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Happisburgh?

The median age was 57.6 at the 2021 Census. 5.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Happisburgh?

97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 2.1% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Happisburgh?

45% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.

Is Happisburgh good for families?

20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Happisburgh’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.