Photo: David Pashley · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns: 20%
The share of one-person households tops 99% of UK towns: 41%. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 96% in Stalham. The median age in the town is 49, higher than in four fifths of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Stalham was home to 3,383 people in 1,669 households.
What the Census says about Stalham’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 88% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +8% change since 2011: Stalham grew faster than 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Stalham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,900 people in 2011; 3,100 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+34%) and the 45 to 64 least (−5%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2016 to mid-2017, 110 people.
29% of residents are 65 or over, a share 88% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with 7.7% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stalham, 49. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.2%
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%.
Nearly a quarter of Stalham’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. More residents who moved in within the year than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 9.5%. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Stalham households average 2 people, smaller than in 98% 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.
Here, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
20% of households have no car or van, a share 74% of UK towns don’t reach
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
With households in flats at 24%, Stalham is ahead of 89% of UK towns on that count. About one household in 5 lives without a car or van. Few places have so few households in terraced houses: 15% here, fewer than in 72% of UK towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 77% of UK towns, at 4%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). At 99%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in three quarters of UK towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 13% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
44% of residents said they have no religion, a share 70% 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: 96% of Stalham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Caribbean (0.1%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 59% of UK towns.
A lower share of married adults and civil partners than 85% of UK towns, at 42%
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
Here just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 32%, fewer than in 53% of UK towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 19% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 23% hold no qualification (18%).
243rd oldest of 749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Milford on Sea (64.6), the oldest. Nearest to Stalham in age: Downton (48.9), Marple Bridge (49), Kennington (49) and Minster (Thanet) (49).
Older than Stalham: 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stalham | 3,383 | — | 49 | 29% | 20% |
| Sutton | 1,026 | 0.8 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 25% |
| Hoveton and Wroxham | 3,620 | 6 mi | 56.4 | 38% | 19% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 6.4 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| North Walsham | 12,829 | 6.5 mi | 50.2 | 29% | 21% |
| Coltishall and Horstead | 2,255 | 7.1 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 23% |
| Badersfield | 1,490 | 7.4 mi | 37.9 | 12% | 40% |
| Salhouse | 1,431 | 7.9 mi | 52.8 | 31% | 22% |
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 Stalham’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Stalham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,084 people in 2021, against 3,383 in the built-up area.
- 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 Stalham’s residents
What is the population of Stalham?
The 2021 Census counted 3,383 people in Stalham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,100 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Stalham?
The median age was 49 at the 2021 Census, older than 80% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stalham?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stalham?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Stalham good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Stalham’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.