Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Holt is over 57.5, older than 98% of UK towns
With households with dependent children at 15%, Holt is behind 99% of UK towns on that count. In Holt, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. More households in detached houses than in 88% of UK towns: 48%. The town’s 2,002 households held 4,014 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Holt’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Holt’s residents are under 57.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 40% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Holt has grown +13%, faster than 69% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Holt’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,800 people in 2011; 4,300 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2020 to mid-2021, the population rose by 120, the most of any year. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+20%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+2%).
Holt: 40% of residents are 65 or over, above 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 10% of residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 9.7%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Holt, 57.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Holt sits above 71% of UK towns for full-time students (5.4%)
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Holt, 34% and 24%. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Above 99% of UK towns: 42% of households are one person living alone
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.
A household here has 1.9 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 69% of UK towns: 19%
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 16% of households live in a terraced house in Holt. About one household in 5 lives without a car or van. Compared with other places, households in flats are common here: 11%, more than in just over half of UK towns.
Holt sits above 56% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (98%)
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
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 6% of residents were born outside the UK here. As a yardstick, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 53% in Holt, more than in 71% 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: 94% of Holt · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On residents with no religion, 37% here is much the same as across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British stands at 94%. To put it in context, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Holt sits below 87% of UK towns for adults who have never married (27%)
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 carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 114. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Lower than in 58% of UK towns: 9.1% of residents give unpaid care. 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
30% of Holt’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%).
530 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 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 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Holt in age: Addingham (57.1), High Lane (57.2), West Parley (57.7) and Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea (57.9).
A younger town than 2 of the 7 around it: Holt
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holt | 4,014 | — | 57.5 | 40% | 15% |
| Briston | 1,983 | 4.1 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 22% |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 4.2 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 27% |
| Sheringham | 7,087 | 5.2 mi | 59.3 | 40% | 17% |
| West Runton and Beeston Regis | 1,463 | 5.8 mi | 63.3 | 47% | 11% |
| Cromer | 7,522 | 8.6 mi | 56.2 | 37% | 16% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 9.4 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Reepham | 2,317 | 9.8 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Holt’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. Holt’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,014 people in 2021, against 4,014 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 Holt’s residents
What is the population of Holt?
The 2021 Census counted 4,014 people in Holt’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,300 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Holt?
The median age was 57.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 98% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Holt?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Holt?
37% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 8.6% didn’t answer.
Is Holt good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Holt’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.