Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Marsham: 51% of residents said they have no religion, above 95% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Marsham has 11%. Unpaid carers account for 12%. One-person households are rarer here than in 88% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 588 people lived locally, in 242 households.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 78% of UK towns: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 45.2, Marsham is older than 55% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Marsham, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
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.
Marsham sits above 62% of UK towns for full-time students (5.1%)
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%.
27% of Marsham’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Higher than in 54% of UK towns: 8.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.4 people per household, more than in 82% 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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 2.1%, Marsham is behind 66% of UK towns on that count. 29% of households have dependent children.
Only 5.3% of households live in a flat or apartment in Marsham
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
Households in detached houses: 39% here and 21% across England’s towns. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 11%.
Fewer residents born abroad than 76% of UK towns: 4.1%
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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 99%, more than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%.
Below 89% of UK towns: 42% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Marsham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (1%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.5%). The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 95%.
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 53% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 21. More adults who have never married than in 52% of UK towns: 33%. By way of comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 20%
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 Marsham, 20%, and 21% have none, against 18%.
Older than Marsham: 4 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marsham | 588 | — | 45.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Aylsham | 7,183 | 1.6 mi | 49.9 | 31% | 25% |
| Hevingham | 1,039 | 1.8 mi | 43.8 | 18% | 33% |
| Cawston | 1,114 | 3.6 mi | 47.8 | 23% | 26% |
| Badersfield | 1,490 | 3.9 mi | 37.9 | 12% | 40% |
| Horsford | 4,396 | 4.7 mi | 38.8 | 16% | 34% |
| Coltishall and Horstead | 2,255 | 5.3 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 23% |
| Horsham St Faith | 1,051 | 5.7 mi | 49.7 | 25% | 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 Marsham’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 Marsham’s residents
What is the population of Marsham?
The 2021 Census counted 588 people in Marsham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Marsham?
The median age was 45.2 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Marsham?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Marsham?
51% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Marsham good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Marsham’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.