Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0Rollesby is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55.6
16% of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 6.5% of the total. On unpaid carers, Rollesby sits higher than 99% of UK towns: 14%. The village is home to 658 residents in 296 households, by the 2021 Census.
Above 95% of UK towns: 33% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Rollesby. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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 smaller share of full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2.8%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Rollesby, 24% and 33%. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 6.9%, fewer than in 87% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
25% of households are one person living alone, below 84% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 3.7%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns. Households average 2.2 people.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 98% of UK towns, at 66%
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Rollesby has 2.4%. Across Rollesby, 10% of households live in a terraced house. For comparison, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 82% of UK towns: 3.7%
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
Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language; in Rollesby, 99%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.4%) or in Africa (0.6%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 96% of UK towns, at 97%
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 Rollesby · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (1.5%), African (0.5%) and Mixed or multiple (0.5%). Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. 61% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 95% of UK towns. By its share of residents with no religion (32%), Rollesby is below 89% of UK towns.
Below 93% of UK towns: 25% 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
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 56% in Rollesby and 44% across England’s towns. On average, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 28.
Among adults, 20% hold a degree-level qualification
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 Rollesby, 20%, and 23% have none, against 18%.
Rollesby is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rollesby | 658 | — | 55.6 | 33% | 16% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 1.6 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Ormesby St Margaret | 2,741 | 2.4 mi | 52.9 | 30% | 20% |
| Hemsby | 5,724 | 2.7 mi | 57.9 | 37% | 17% |
| Caister-on-Sea | 9,095 | 4.4 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Acle | 2,268 | 4.5 mi | 54 | 34% | 18% |
| Great Yarmouth | 28,979 | 6.6 mi | 38 | 16% | 29% |
| Sutton | 1,026 | 6.8 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 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 Rollesby’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 Rollesby’s residents
What is the population of Rollesby?
The 2021 Census counted 658 people in Rollesby’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Rollesby?
The median age was 55.6 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rollesby?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rollesby?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Rollesby good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Rollesby’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.