Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0Abbots Leigh: 89% of households live in a detached house, above 99% of UK towns
14% of households are one person living alone (England’s towns: 30%). At the same time, on residents who describe themselves as Christian, Abbots Leigh sits higher than 87% of UK towns: 57%. The village had 302 residents in 118 households at the 2021 Census. In Abbots Leigh, 3.5% of households have no car or van.
Half of Abbots Leigh is over 48.6, older than 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 68% of UK towns: 24%. In South Petherton, the oldest of Somerset’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Abbots Leigh ranks above 85% of UK towns on full-time students: 6.1%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Abbots Leigh, 63% and 6.5%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in the village.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.6 people per household, more than in 96% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Somerset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Abbots Leigh, 1.7%. Census figures put households with dependent children at 31% here.
The most common home: a detached house, for 89% of households
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
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns.
Above 73% of UK towns: 9.7% of residents were born outside the UK
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 whose main language is English: 99% here and 90% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Below 65% of UK towns: 90% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 90% of Abbots Leigh · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 37%, residents with no religion sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (5.3%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Pakistani (0.3%). By way of comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
More married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns: 67%
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
Some 1 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 5.2%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 99% of UK towns. Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Abbots Leigh comes in at 21%.
61% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
11% of Abbots Leigh’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 61% have one at degree level (34%). Many still at university: 13% list A levels as their highest qualification.
1 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Abbots Leigh
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbots Leigh | 302 | — | 48.6 | 24% | 31% |
| Pill | 4,956 | 1.5 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 2.1 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 37% |
| Avonmouth | 2,643 | 2.8 mi | 35.9 | 11% | 29% |
| Bristol | 425,196 | 3.3 mi | 33.9 | 13% | 26% |
| Nailsea | 15,919 | 4.5 mi | 50.9 | 30% | 24% |
| Backwell | 4,347 | 4.6 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 34% |
| Portishead | 26,351 | 4.8 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 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.
- “Somerset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Somerset (or England), summed the same way as Abbots Leigh’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 Abbots Leigh’s residents
What is the population of Abbots Leigh?
The 2021 Census counted 302 people in Abbots Leigh’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Abbots Leigh?
The median age was 48.6 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Abbots Leigh?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 9.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Abbots Leigh?
37% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 4% didn’t answer.
Is Abbots Leigh good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Abbots Leigh’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.