Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 56.7: Welney is older than 98% of UK towns
0.8% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). There were 124 households in Welney at the 2021 Census, home to 263 residents. For Welney, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 59%. Households in detached houses are more common here than in 99% of UK towns.
Welney ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.8%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 14% of residents, 2.2 times the share across England’s towns. At 32%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 93% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 110 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
1.3% of adults are full-time students, fewer 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%.
4.6% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
Fewer households with dependent children than 99% of UK towns: 16%
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.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 27% of households are one person living alone in Welney. Add to that, on shared households of unrelated adults, Welney sits lower than 88% of UK towns: 1.6%. The usual figure: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The average household has 2.1 people.
Households in terraced houses: 7.9%, a lower share than 93% of UK towns
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
The share of households without a car or van trails 92% of UK towns: 7.9%. As a yardstick, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 93% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). 4.9% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 65% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Welney ranks below 86% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 34%
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 Welney · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
91% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. On the census count, 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian. As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 19%
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
7 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Welney has more unpaid carers than 52% of UK towns, at 9.4%. For comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
26% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Welney, 22%, while 26% hold one at degree level (34%).
Welney is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welney | 263 | — | 56.7 | 32% | 16% |
| Manea | 2,638 | 4 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 30% |
| Littleport | 9,170 | 4.9 mi | 38.6 | 17% | 30% |
| Upwell and Outwell | 3,664 | 5.9 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Southery | 1,258 | 6.1 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 27% |
| Little Downham | 1,234 | 6.1 mi | 49.3 | 26% | 27% |
| March | 21,345 | 6.9 mi | 46 | 25% | 25% |
| Doddington and Wimblington | 4,279 | 7.2 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 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 Welney’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 Welney’s residents
What is the population of Welney?
The 2021 Census counted 263 people in Welney’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Welney?
The median age was 56.7 at the 2021 Census. 6.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Welney?
91% 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 Welney?
34% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 8.4% didn’t answer.
Is Welney good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Welney’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.