Photo: Rodw · Public domainChew Magna is older than 91% of UK towns: a median age of 51.7
6.9% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. On the census count, 54% of households live in a detached house. Lower than in 99% of UK towns: 20% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Chew Magna’s 520 households held 1,249 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Chew Magna’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Chew Magna’s residents are under 51.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% 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).
Only 7.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Chew Magna
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
31% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). By way of comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.3% in Chew Magna, less than in 79% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Chew Magna has 49% and 11%. 4.9% of adults are full-time students.
Chew Magna sits below 92% of UK towns for one-person households (23%)
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 4.6%. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in 73% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%.
Chew Magna sits below 83% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (12%)
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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 6% in Chew Magna. The usual figure: 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
100% of residents have English as their main language, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
In Chew Magna, 7.1% of residents were born outside the UK, beside 18% across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in Africa (1.9%).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 83% of UK towns: 56%
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 Chew Magna · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 37% across England’s towns, 38% of residents said they have no religion here. The census found that 95% of residents describe themselves as White British in Chew Magna. Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Chew Magna sits above 99% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (62%)
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 26. 7.8% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 88% of UK towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 50%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Chew Magna, 50%, and 12% have none, against 18%.
No nearby town is as old as Chew Magna
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chew Magna | 1,249 | — | 51.7 | 31% | 25% |
| Bishop Sutton | 1,424 | 2.3 mi | 44.1 | 19% | 37% |
| Whitchurch | 1,992 | 3.7 mi | 39.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Clutton | 1,630 | 4 mi | 41.9 | 19% | 36% |
| Temple Cloud | 1,518 | 4.4 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 31% |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 5 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 37% |
| Blagdon | 1,056 | 5.3 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 27% |
| High Littleton | 1,655 | 5.3 mi | 46 | 23% | 29% |
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 Chew Magna’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 Chew Magna’s residents
What is the population of Chew Magna?
The 2021 Census counted 1,249 people in Chew Magna’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chew Magna?
The median age was 51.7 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chew Magna?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 7.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chew Magna?
38% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Chew Magna good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chew Magna’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.