Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Whissonsett is over 52.3, older than 93% of UK towns
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Whissonsett was home to 467 people in 215 households. Locally, 7.9% of households have no car or van. The figure for households with dependent children is 24% in Whissonsett and 29% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of UK towns, at 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.2%, Whissonsett is behind 90% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Whissonsett sits below 98% of UK towns for full-time students (3.1%)
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%.
By class, 32% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Here, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 83% 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.
Here 1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Across Whissonsett, 28% of households are one person living alone.
Households in terraced houses make up 11% in Whissonsett, less than in 86% 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
Detached houses are home to 45% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Only 4.1% of residents were born outside the UK in Whissonsett
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 (3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. More residents whose main language is English than in 63% of UK towns: 98%.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 91% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 96% of Whissonsett · Norfolk’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion; in Whissonsett, 38%. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Here, 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Whissonsett sits below 84% of UK towns for adults who have never married (27%)
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 11 residents. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Nearly half of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%.
Degree-level qualifications: 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 27% of adults in Whissonsett, 34% across England’s towns; 19% have no qualification, against 18%.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Whissonsett
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whissonsett | 467 | — | 52.3 | 31% | 24% |
| Fakenham | 8,390 | 4.2 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 21% |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 4.7 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 22% |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 7 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 7.2 mi | 41.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Dereham | 20,788 | 7.9 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 27% |
| Necton | 1,742 | 9.1 mi | 57.3 | 38% | 19% |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 9.9 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 27% |
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 Whissonsett’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 Whissonsett’s residents
What is the population of Whissonsett?
The 2021 Census counted 467 people in Whissonsett’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Whissonsett?
The median age was 52.3 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whissonsett?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Norfolk’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Whissonsett?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Whissonsett good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whissonsett’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.