Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0Hemsby is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.9
17% of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Fewer households in flats than in 96% of UK towns: 2.3%. There were 2,666 households in Hemsby at the 2021 Census, home to 5,724 residents. For Hemsby, the census puts households in detached houses at 63%.
What the Census says about Hemsby’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Hemsby’s residents are under 57.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 37% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
37% of residents are 65 or over, a share 98% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 8.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Hemsby. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hemsby, 57.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 96% of UK towns, at 3.4%
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%.
In Hemsby, nearly a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 91% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
Locally, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Hemsby has more one-person households than 53% of UK towns, at 30%.
Hemsby ranks below 92% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 8.4%
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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Hemsby comes in at 12%.
Hemsby sits below 89% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.2%)
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
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, above 83% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 96%, a higher share than 91% 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: 96% of Hemsby · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian tops 84% of UK towns: 56%. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The census found that 37% of residents said they have no religion in Hemsby.
Hemsby sits below 94% of UK towns for adults who have never married (25%)
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
Across England’s towns, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care; in Hemsby, 11%. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 78% of UK towns. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%. 270 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 16% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
28% of Hemsby’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 16% have one at degree level (34%).
624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people: this is the 18th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Hemsby in age: Filey (57.8), Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea (57.9), Littlestone-on-Sea (57.9) and Jaywick (58).
Hemsby 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hemsby | 5,724 | — | 57.9 | 37% | 17% |
| Ormesby St Margaret | 2,741 | 1.7 mi | 52.9 | 30% | 20% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 2.6 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Caister-on-Sea | 9,095 | 3.5 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Great Yarmouth | 28,979 | 6.4 mi | 38 | 16% | 29% |
| Acle | 2,268 | 7.1 mi | 54 | 34% | 18% |
| Sutton | 1,026 | 8 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 25% |
| Bradwell | 11,632 | 8.3 mi | 47.2 | 27% | 25% |
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 Hemsby’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 Hemsby’s residents
What is the population of Hemsby?
The 2021 Census counted 5,724 people in Hemsby’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hemsby?
The median age was 57.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 98% of UK towns. 8.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hemsby?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hemsby?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Hemsby good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hemsby’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.