Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 50.6: Sutton is older than 88% of UK towns
With households in detached houses at 47%, Sutton is ahead of 87% of UK towns on that count. Compared with other places, households in flats are scarce here: 2.9%, fewer than in 93% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 1,026 residents in the village, living in 448 households. Locally, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British.
What the Census says about Sutton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Sutton’s residents are under 50.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
109 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 90% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
29% of residents are 65 or over, a share 90% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up nearly one in ten residents, against 12% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 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 an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 94% of UK towns: 3.6%
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, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Sutton has 8.4%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Fewer one-person households than 85% of UK towns: 25%
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.
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Sutton has 2%. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%. Households average 2.3 people. Lower than in 76% of UK towns: 25% of households have dependent children.
Sutton sits below 85% of UK towns for households without a car or van (9.5%)
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 terraced houses account for 21%. The share of households without a car or van across England’s towns is 24%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 100% of residents have English as their main language
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
18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, against 3.4% in Sutton. Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).
Sutton sits above 84% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (56%)
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 Sutton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Sutton comes in at 39%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Mixed or multiple (1.4%), Other White (1.2%) and African (0.1%).
Fewer adults who have never married than 82% of UK towns: 27%
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 34 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 53% here, more than in 80% of UK towns. With unpaid carers at 11%, Sutton is ahead of 90% of UK towns on that count.
Qualified to degree level: 18% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 18% of Sutton’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 23% have no qualification (18%).
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Sutton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | 1,026 | — | 50.6 | 29% | 25% |
| Stalham | 3,383 | 0.8 mi | 49 | 29% | 20% |
| Martham | 3,633 | 5.6 mi | 50.4 | 29% | 24% |
| Hoveton and Wroxham | 3,620 | 6 mi | 56.4 | 38% | 19% |
| North Walsham | 12,829 | 7.3 mi | 50.2 | 29% | 21% |
| Coltishall and Horstead | 2,255 | 7.4 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 23% |
| Salhouse | 1,431 | 7.7 mi | 52.8 | 31% | 22% |
| Badersfield | 1,490 | 7.9 mi | 37.9 | 12% | 40% |
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 Sutton’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 Sutton’s residents
What is the population of Sutton?
The 2021 Census counted 1,026 people in Sutton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sutton?
The median age was 50.6 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sutton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sutton?
39% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Sutton good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sutton’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.