Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Scole is older than 94% of UK towns: a median age of 52.8
With households with dependent children at 20%, Scole is behind 95% of UK towns on that count. Nearly one in ten households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 91% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 1,037 residents and 503 households in the village. For Scole, the census puts adults who have never married at 26%.
What the Census says about Scole’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Scole’s residents are under 52.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% 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).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.9% in Scole, less than in 94% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30% of residents are 65 or over; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 6.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Scole
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%.
4.2% of adults are full-time students, against 7.9% across England’s towns. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 93% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
Against a figure of 30% across England’s towns, the share of one-person households in Scole comes in at 35%. On top of that, on shared households of unrelated adults, Scole sits higher than 70% of UK towns: 2.8%.
More households in detached houses than 86% of UK towns: 46%
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 flats: 4.8%, below 84% of UK towns. The census found that one in ten households have no car or van in Scole. By way of comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Scole ranks below 76% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 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
Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language; in Scole, 98%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.8%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%.
In Scole, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 80% 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: 95% of Scole · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and African (0.2%). At 40%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 56% of UK towns.
Scole ranks above 64% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 50%
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
For 25 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 9.9% here, more than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 21% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 21% of adults in Scole, 34% across England’s towns; 25% have no qualification, against 18%.
Older than Scole: 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scole | 1,037 | — | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Diss | 9,599 | 1.9 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 2.4 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 3.1 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) | 1,117 | 3.1 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 6 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 6.5 mi | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 6.6 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 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 Scole’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 Scole’s residents
What is the population of Scole?
The 2021 Census counted 1,037 people in Scole’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Scole?
The median age was 52.8 at the 2021 Census. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Scole?
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 Scole?
40% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Scole good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Scole’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.