Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0More households in detached houses than 83% of UK towns: 44%
A quarter of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 11,549 residents in Watton, living in 4,959 households. Here, 24% of residents are 65 or over. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 82% of UK towns.
A median age of 43.1: Watton is younger than 61% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 7.7% of residents. 9.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 55% of UK towns. In Hunstanton, the oldest of Norfolk’s towns by this measure, it is 44%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Watton, 43.1. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Watton sits below 96% of UK towns for full-time students (3.4%)
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Watton has 24% and 37%. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%. On the census count, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 4%, a higher share than 92% 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.
28% of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%. Each household has 2.3 people on average. By way of comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Below 60% of UK towns: 9% of households live in a flat or apartment
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 fifth of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Locally, 15% of households have no car or van.
87% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
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 outside the UK: 18%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (14%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%). For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%.
In Watton, 52% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 62% 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: 83% of Watton · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (14%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and African (0.5%). Fewer residents with no religion than in 54% of UK towns: 40%. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners: 47%, a lower share than 58% 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
358 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 8.7%, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Adults who have never married make up 32%, against 39% across England’s towns.
19% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Watton counts 19% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 27% have no qualification (18%).
Among 432 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, the 155th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Watton in age: North Wingfield and Holmewood (43), Ampthill (43), Runwell (43.1) and Weybridge (43.1).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Watton
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 Watton’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 Watton’s residents
What is the population of Watton?
The 2021 Census counted 11,549 people in Watton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Watton?
The median age was 43.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 61% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Watton?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Watton?
40% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Watton good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Watton’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.