Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0Households with dependent children: 19%, a lower share than 96% of UK towns
The share of households in flats is 2.2%, against 23% across England’s towns. One-person households: 24% of the total. At 33%, the share of households in terraced houses is higher than in 87% of UK towns. Chelston had 415 residents and 183 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 48.8.
Chelston ranks below 91% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.2%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: 11% of residents, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 21% in Chelston. Half of the village’s residents are over 48.8, older than in nearly four in five UK towns. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 0.8%
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%.
In Chelston, 6.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More shared houses than 97% of UK towns: 6.6% of households
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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. The usual figure: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Only 9.7% of households have no car or van in Chelston
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 in detached houses tops 71% of UK towns: 37%. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Chelston ranks below 54% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Across England’s towns the share born abroad is 18%; in Chelston it is 6.5%.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%, a higher share than 75% 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 Chelston · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and African (0.5%). Higher than in two thirds of UK towns: 53% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion make up 40%, against 37% across England’s towns.
55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 89% of UK towns don’t reach
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 7 residents. Chelston has fewer adults who have never married than 68% of UK towns, at 30%. Against that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, 9.2% here is much the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of Chelston’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have no qualification (18%).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Chelston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelston | 415 | — | 48.8 | 21% | 19% |
| Wellington | 13,815 | 1.2 mi | 45 | 24% | 25% |
| Rockwell Green | 2,854 | 2.2 mi | 46.7 | 22% | 27% |
| Milverton | 1,112 | 3.6 mi | 53.9 | 30% | 22% |
| Trull | 1,427 | 3.6 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 29% |
| Norton Fitzwarren | 3,770 | 3.8 mi | 35.7 | 14% | 31% |
| Cotford St Luke | 2,411 | 3.8 mi | 36.9 | 12% | 39% |
| Taunton | 61,667 | 4.8 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Chelston’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 Chelston’s residents
What is the population of Chelston?
The 2021 Census counted 415 people in Chelston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chelston?
The median age was 48.8 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chelston?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 6.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chelston?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Chelston good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chelston’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.