Photo: Richard Riley · CC BY 2.0Half of Hunstanton is over 61.3, older than 99% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Hunstanton has 12%. This Norfolk town counted 4,230 residents and 2,179 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. 34% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 84% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Hunstanton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Hunstanton’s residents are under 61.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 44% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Hunstanton at 4,000 in 2011 and 3,900 in 2024, down 2%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 92% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
A town of flats
30% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 95% of UK towns. 24% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Hunstanton changed by −2% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 92% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hunstanton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,000 people in 2011; 3,900 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+8%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−19%).
In Hunstanton, 44% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 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: just over one in ten residents, 2.5 times the share across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 6.7% in Hunstanton.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hunstanton, 61.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
Full-time students: 2.5%, a lower share than 99% 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%.
One in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
One-person households make up 42% in Hunstanton, more than in 99% 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 average household has 1.9 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Few places have so few shared households of unrelated adults: 2.2% here, fewer than in 58% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Hunstanton: 30% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 95% of UK towns
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
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house; in Hunstanton, 13%. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 84% of UK towns. The wider picture: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. For Hunstanton, the census puts households in detached houses at 34%.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 63% of UK towns: 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
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 5.7% of residents were born outside the UK in Hunstanton. Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 90% of UK towns, at 58%
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: 93% of Hunstanton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British in Hunstanton. The wider picture: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Pakistani (0.2%).
11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 80% of UK towns
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
164 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 46% here, fewer than in 59% of UK towns.
21% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 21% of adults in Hunstanton, 34% across England’s towns; 26% have no qualification, against 18%.
Among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, the 9th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Hunstanton in age: Heacham (60.1), Church Stretton (61.1), Budleigh Salterton (62) and Chapel St Leonards (62.2).
Every neighbour of Hunstanton has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunstanton | 4,230 | — | 61.3 | 44% | 12% |
| Heacham | 3,978 | 2 mi | 60.1 | 43% | 13% |
| Snettisham | 2,709 | 4.1 mi | 59.1 | 41% | 17% |
| Dersingham | 4,753 | 6.2 mi | 58.6 | 41% | 17% |
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 Hunstanton’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. Hunstanton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,022 people in 2021, against 4,230 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 Hunstanton’s residents
What is the population of Hunstanton?
The 2021 Census counted 4,230 people in Hunstanton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,900 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hunstanton?
The median age was 61.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 6.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 44% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hunstanton?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hunstanton?
34% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Hunstanton good for families?
12% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hunstanton’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.