Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 92% of UK towns: half of Swaffham is over 51.9
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. 21% of households have dependent children. Swaffham has more households in detached houses than 84% of UK towns, at 45%. There were 3,919 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 8,434 residents.
What the Census says about Swaffham’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Swaffham’s residents are under 51.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Swaffham at 7,300 in 2011 and 9,500 in 2024, up 31%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 94% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
+31% since 2011, a pace 94% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Swaffham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,300 people in 2011; 9,500 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2021 to mid-2022: 330. Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+51%) and weakest among the 45 to 64 (+18%).
In Swaffham, 33% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 8.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Swaffham, 51.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students make up 2.9% in Swaffham, less than in 99% of UK towns
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 10% here and 11% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 75% 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 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 71% of UK towns, at 15%
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 without a car or van at 18%, Swaffham is ahead of 63% of UK towns on that count. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Households in flats: 11% of the total.
Swaffham sits below 72% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (96%)
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
10% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. At 8.1%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 64% of UK towns. Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%).
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 71% 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: 91% of Swaffham · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 91% of residents describe themselves as White British, where the figure across England’s towns is 73%. In Swaffham, 39% of residents said they have no religion. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 80% of UK towns: 28%
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
261 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 51% of UK towns. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 9.3%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Swaffham, 22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 25% have no qualification at all (18%).
Among 424 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, the 33rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tidworth (28.4) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Swaffham in age: Hexham (51.8), Richmond (51.9), Ludlow (52.2) and Abergele (52.2).
Nearby, 3 of 7 towns have older populations than Swaffham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swaffham | 8,434 | — | 51.9 | 33% | 21% |
| Necton | 1,742 | 3.6 mi | 57.3 | 38% | 19% |
| Ashill | 1,252 | 4.7 mi | 57.6 | 39% | 17% |
| Narborough | 1,362 | 5.2 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 23% |
| Saham Toney | 1,287 | 6.3 mi | 57.5 | 37% | 15% |
| Marham | 2,608 | 6.4 mi | 30.1 | 9.8% | 39% |
| Watton | 11,549 | 7.9 mi | 43.1 | 24% | 25% |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 8.8 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 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 Swaffham’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. Swaffham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,569 people in 2021, against 8,434 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 Swaffham’s residents
What is the population of Swaffham?
The 2021 Census counted 8,434 people in Swaffham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,500 people in mid-2024, 31% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Swaffham?
The median age was 51.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 8.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swaffham?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swaffham?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Swaffham good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Swaffham’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.