Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Happisburgh 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.
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.
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
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
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
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
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 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.
Against Norfolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
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%.
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
Cars or vans · share of households
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.
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
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%).
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
White British, not charted: 97% of Happisburgh · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
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.
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
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
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.
Degree-level qualifications reach 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Happisburgh, 27%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
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.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happisburgh | 340 | — | 57.6 | 34% | 20% |
| Stalham | 3,383 | 3.6 mi | 49 | 29% | 20% |
| Sutton | 1,026 | 4.2 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 25% |
| Mundesley | 2,777 | 6 mi | 58.7 | 40% | 15% |
| North Walsham | 12,829 | 6 mi | 50.2 | 29% | 21% |
| Badersfield | 1,490 | 8.9 mi | 37.9 | 12% | 40% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 8.9 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Hoveton and Wroxham | 3,620 | 9.1 mi | 56.4 | 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 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.