Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.4%
The share of households in terraced houses trails 96% of UK towns: 6.7%. There were 234 households in Thurton at the 2021 Census, home to 565 residents. Locally, 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Lower than in 85% of UK towns: 23% of households have dependent children.
Older than 89% of UK towns: half of Thurton is over 50.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Thurton comes in at 26%. In Thurton, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 98% of UK towns: 5.7%
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%.
Full-time students make up 8%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Thurton sits below 74% of UK towns for one-person households (27%)
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.
The typical household size is 2.4 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The usual figure: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
65% of households live in a detached house, a share 98% 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
8.4% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. On average, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Above 73% of UK towns: 99% 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
Across England’s towns the share born abroad is 18%; in Thurton it is 4.9%. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
Above 82% of UK towns: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 95% of Thurton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (0.2%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Thurton sits higher than 79% of UK towns: 95%. 39% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%).
Thurton: 51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 67% of UK towns
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
At 8.6%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 31%, fewer than in just over three fifths of UK towns. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Some 15 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
27% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Thurton, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 19% have no qualification at all (18%). Many of the 18% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Thurton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurton | 565 | — | 50.8 | 26% | 23% |
| Chedgrave | 1,053 | 2.1 mi | 57 | 39% | 20% |
| Loddon | 2,247 | 2.4 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Poringland | 7,105 | 4 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Brundall | 4,378 | 4.6 mi | 51 | 30% | 24% |
| Lingwood | 2,368 | 5.1 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 25% |
| Freethorpe | 1,050 | 5.4 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 33% |
| Blofield | 2,667 | 5.5 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 29% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Thurton’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 Thurton’s residents
What is the population of Thurton?
The 2021 Census counted 565 people in Thurton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thurton?
The median age was 50.8 at the 2021 Census. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thurton?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thurton?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 3.6% didn’t answer.
Is Thurton good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thurton’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.