Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households in flats than 92% of UK towns, at 26%
Households in terraced houses make up 28%, against 24% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Highbridge was home to 5,366 people in 2,424 households. On the census count, 40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The median age here is 42, lower than in 69% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Highbridge’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A young town: 11% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 21% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. Against that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Highbridge, 42. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
A lower share of full-time students than 65% of UK towns, at 4.5%
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 Highbridge, 20% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 38% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns. Here, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
One-person households make up 33% in Highbridge, more than in 72% 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, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Highbridge has 2.9%. More households with dependent children than in 53% of UK towns: 28%. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison. The average household has 2.2 people.
Only 13% of households live in a detached house in Highbridge
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
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Highbridge has 22%. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%.
Below 74% of UK towns: 96% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (4.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). On residents born outside the UK, Highbridge sits higher than 61% of UK towns: 7.6%. As a yardstick, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: a fifth of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
Above 86% of UK towns: 47% of residents said they have no religion
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: 92% of Highbridge · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (4.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Bangladeshi (0.5%). Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 45% here, fewer than in 78% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. In Highbridge, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 82% of UK towns: 38%
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
174 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 10%, more than in 66% of UK towns. For comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
19% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Highbridge’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 19% have one at degree level (34%).
Among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, the 118th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Highbridge in age: Wincanton (41.9), Oakdale (41.9), Ynysybwl (42) and Havercroft and Ryhill (42.1).
Highbridge sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highbridge | 5,366 | — | 42 | 21% | 28% |
| Burnham-on-Sea | 16,317 | 1.2 mi | 53.3 | 33% | 20% |
| Puriton | 2,265 | 3.7 mi | 47.5 | 26% | 26% |
| Berrow and Brean | 2,252 | 4.1 mi | 58.5 | 38% | 15% |
| Woolavington | 2,324 | 4.2 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 22% |
| Cannington | 2,315 | 6.2 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Wembdon | 1,772 | 6.4 mi | 51.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Bridgwater | 47,846 | 6.8 mi | 37.5 | 15% | 31% |
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 Highbridge’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 Highbridge’s residents
What is the population of Highbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 5,366 people in Highbridge’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Highbridge?
The median age was 42 at the 2021 Census, younger than 69% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Highbridge?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Highbridge?
47% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Highbridge good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Highbridge’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.