Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Swanton Morley ranks below 97% of UK towns on households in flats: 1.8%
Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%; Swanton Morley has 24%. 48% of households live in a detached house. The median age here is 41.5, lower than in 72% of UK towns. The village is home to 2,175 residents in 844 households, by the 2021 Census.
More residents aged 65 and over than 66% of UK towns: 24%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 8.7% of residents. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Hunstanton, the oldest of Norfolk’s towns by this measure, it is 44%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 84% of UK towns: 4% of adults are full-time students
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%.
13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.4 people per household, more than in 74% 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.
3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (England’s towns: 4.3%). In Swanton Morley, 28% of households have dependent children.
Swanton Morley ranks below 80% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 10%
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
16% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%).
9.3% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 71% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.4%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.9%). Swanton Morley has fewer residents whose main language is English than 65% of UK towns, at 97%. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: just over a fifth of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
Above 73% of UK towns: 44% of residents said they have no religion
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: 92% of Swanton Morley · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%; Swanton Morley has 48%. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and African (0.7%).
More married adults and civil partners than 74% of UK towns: 52%
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
29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. Locally, 7.2% of residents give unpaid care. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Swanton Morley counts 22% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 16% have no qualification (18%).
Swanton Morley is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | — | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 2.7 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Dereham | 20,788 | 3.2 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Mattishall | 2,203 | 4.3 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 4.7 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Reepham | 2,317 | 6.4 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 24% |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 6.9 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 25% |
| Cawston | 1,114 | 8.4 mi | 47.8 | 23% | 26% |
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 Swanton Morley’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 Swanton Morley’s residents
What is the population of Swanton Morley?
The 2021 Census counted 2,175 people in Swanton Morley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Swanton Morley?
The median age was 41.5 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swanton Morley?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 9.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swanton Morley?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Swanton Morley good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Swanton Morley’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.