Photo: Deben Dave at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0A median age of 57.4: Thompson is older than 98% of UK towns
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Thompson comes in at 0.6%. There were 169 households in the village at the 2021 Census, home to 368 residents. Census figures put households without a car or van at 5.3% locally. The village has fewer households with dependent children than 97% of UK towns, at 18%.
Fewer young people than 99% of UK towns: 4.9% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 13% of residents, 2.8 times the share across England’s towns. On residents aged 65 and over, Thompson sits higher than 96% of UK towns: 34%. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
1.5% of adults are full-time students, below 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 37% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 21% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%. In Thompson, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Thompson ranks below 91% of UK towns on one-person households: 24%
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.
Thompson sits close to the norm on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.6%, about the same as across England’s towns. Each household has 2.2 people on average. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns.
More detached houses than 99% of UK towns: 71% of households
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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, against 7.7% in Thompson. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 98% of UK towns: 99%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.6%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.6%). Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 5.7% here, fewer than in 57% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%.
In Thompson, 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 84% 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: 94% of Thompson · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 37%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. 94% of residents describe themselves as White British. Across the comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 21%
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
12 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 59%, more than in 97% of UK towns. Measured more widely, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The figure for unpaid carers is 11% in Thompson and 8.7% across England’s towns.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of adults in Thompson (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 19% (England’s towns: 18%).
Thompson is younger than 2 of its 7 nearest neighbours
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Thompson’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 Thompson’s residents
What is the population of Thompson?
The 2021 Census counted 368 people in Thompson’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thompson?
The median age was 57.4 at the 2021 Census. 4.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thompson?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thompson?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Thompson good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thompson’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.