Wylam Hall · Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of UK towns: 0.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 59% in Wylam. At the 2021 Census Wylam was home to 1,661 people in 751 households. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 37% in the village. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 91% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wylam’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wylam’s residents are under 51.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A median age of 51.1: Wylam is older than 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 28%, against 18% across England’s towns. In Corbridge, the oldest of Northumberland’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
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.
In Wylam, 5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, 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%.
By class, 53% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 13% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). On the census count, 5.5% of adults are full-time students. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 76% of UK towns: 25%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Northumberland’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 31% of households are one person living alone here. The share of households with dependent children across England’s towns is 29%. Households average 2.2 people.
Few flats: only 7.1% of households in Wylam live in one
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
13% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households in detached houses stands at 31%.
Above 93% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 63% of UK towns: 5.1%. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns.
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 74% 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: 95% of Wylam · Northumberland’s towns 96% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.3%). As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. At 52%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is higher than in 64% of UK towns. On top of that, across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Wylam has 42%.
Fewer adults who have never married than 96% of UK towns: 24%
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 46 residents. Higher than in 77% of UK towns: 10% of residents give unpaid care. Across England’s towns, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
Degree-level qualifications reach 52% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 52% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 10% hold no qualification (18%).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Wylam
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wylam | 1,661 | — | 51.1 | 28% | 25% |
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | 1,300 | 1.7 mi | 58.2 | 37% | 17% |
| Prudhoe | 10,285 | 1.8 mi | 45.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Ovingham | 1,155 | 1.8 mi | 50.6 | 27% | 23% |
| Crawcrook and Greenside | 7,544 | 1.9 mi | 45.6 | 23% | 25% |
| Ryton | 8,804 | 2.8 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 27% |
| Throckley | 6,207 | 2.8 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Newburn | 1,475 | 3.3 mi | 43.3 | 19% | 19% |
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.
- “Northumberland’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Northumberland (or England), summed the same way as Wylam’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 Wylam’s residents
What is the population of Wylam?
The 2021 Census counted 1,661 people in Wylam’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wylam?
The median age was 51.1 at the 2021 Census. 8.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wylam?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 96% across Northumberland’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wylam?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Wylam good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wylam’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.