Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 98% of UK towns: half of St Olaves is over 57.1
Nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. St Olaves had 250 residents in 119 households at the 2021 Census. Households with dependent children: 16% of the total. Lower than in 97% of UK towns: 23% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
In St Olaves, 7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
31% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). On average, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 86% of UK towns: 3.9%
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%.
By class, just over two in five adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In St Olaves, 8.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 83% of UK towns: 2.2 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.
3.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van: 3.5%, a lower share than 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
The figure for households in detached houses is 83% in St Olaves and 21% across England’s towns. On the census count, 6.9% of households live in a terraced house. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 100%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
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
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 5.2% of residents were born outside the UK in St Olaves. As a reference point, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.6%) or in EU countries (1.2%).
In St Olaves, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 87% 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: 96% of St Olaves · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 54%, against 46% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Next after White British come Mixed or multiple (0.8%), Other White (0.4%) and Indian (0.4%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 57% in St Olaves, more than in 94% 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
Set against 8.7% across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care in St Olaves. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 3.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
St Olaves’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 16% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than St Olaves
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Olaves | 250 | — | 57.1 | 31% | 16% |
| Belton | 3,603 | 2.7 mi | 47.5 | 26% | 26% |
| Thurlton | 1,145 | 2.9 mi | 49.4 | 24% | 27% |
| Hopton on Sea | 2,575 | 4.2 mi | 51.3 | 28% | 21% |
| Bradwell | 11,632 | 4.3 mi | 47.2 | 27% | 25% |
| Freethorpe | 1,050 | 4.7 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Gorleston-on-Sea | 24,474 | 4.8 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 27% |
| Corton | 1,134 | 5.2 mi | 59.2 | 39% | 14% |
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 St Olaves’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 St Olaves’s residents
What is the population of St Olaves?
The 2021 Census counted 250 people in St Olaves’s built-up area.
What is the average age in St Olaves?
The median age was 57.1 at the 2021 Census. 7.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is St Olaves?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 5.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Olaves?
41% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is St Olaves good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on St Olaves’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.