Cardinal's Hat Inn · Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer young people than 92% of UK towns: 8% are 15 to 24
Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%; Harleston has 34%. Its 2,351 households held 5,077 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in nearly four fifths of UK towns.
What the Census says about Harleston’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 87% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Faster growth than 74% of UK towns: Harleston changed by +14% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Harleston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,600 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
Mid-2016 to mid-2017 brought the biggest yearly rise, 130 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+33%) and 16 to 29 least (−12%).
Harleston ranks above 87% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of Harleston’s residents are over 47.6, older than in 72% of UK towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Harleston, 47.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 98% of UK towns: 3.2% of adults are full-time students
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%.
7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 85% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.3% of the total.
Below 70% of UK towns: 16% of households live in a terraced house
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
In Harleston, 36% of households live in a detached house, beside 21% across England’s towns. Every 6th household or so has no car or van. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Across Harleston, one in ten households live in a flat or apartment.
4.8% born outside the UK, fewer than in 66% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
With residents whose main language is English at 98%, Harleston is ahead of 61% of UK towns on that count. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 69% of UK towns: 44%
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 Harleston · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.4%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%).
A lower share of adults who have never married than 72% of UK towns, at 29%
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: 8.5%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 114 people. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
22% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Harleston, 22%, while 22% hold one at degree level (34%).
Ranked by age, 196th oldest of 516 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Harleston in age: Netley (47.5), Wem (47.6), Olney (47.6) and Chalfont St Giles (47.6).
Around Harleston, 5 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harleston | 5,077 | — | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 4.8 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 5.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 6.5 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Long Stratton | 5,218 | 6.7 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 28% |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 7 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 23% |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 7.4 mi | 52.3 | 28% | 19% |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 7.8 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 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 Harleston’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Harleston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,257 people in 2021, against 5,077 in the built-up area.
- 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 Harleston’s residents
What is the population of Harleston?
The 2021 Census counted 5,077 people in Harleston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, 14% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Harleston?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Harleston?
95% 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 Harleston?
44% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Harleston good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Harleston’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.