Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Needham is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 56.9
Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Needham was home to 313 people in 146 households. Households in flats: 0.7% of the total. The village has more households in detached houses than 99% of UK towns, at 70%.
35% of Needham is 65 or over, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
6.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Needham sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (1.5%)
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 or semi-routine work; Needham has 33% and 24%. One in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
15% of households have dependent children, fewer 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.
In Needham the average household is 2.1 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. One-person households are rarer here than in 54% of UK towns.
2.7% of households live in a terraced house, below 99% 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
24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 8.3% in Needham.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 93% of UK towns, at 2.9%
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
Here 100% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.3%).
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 97% of Needham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 40% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across England’s towns is 37%. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. The census found that just over half of residents describe themselves as Christian in Needham.
Below 98% of UK towns: 22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
9 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 55%, more than in 88% of UK towns. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Needham counts 28% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 21% have no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Needham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needham | 313 | — | 56.9 | 35% | 15% |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 1.5 mi | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 3.7 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 4.8 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 5.1 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Diss | 9,599 | 6.8 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 7 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 7.1 mi | 52.3 | 28% | 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 Needham’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 Needham’s residents
What is the population of Needham?
The 2021 Census counted 313 people in Needham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Needham?
The median age was 56.9 at the 2021 Census. 6.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Needham?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Needham?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 8% didn’t answer.
Is Needham good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Needham’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.