Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 96% of UK towns: half of Minehead is over 54.3
The figure for one-person households is 38% in Minehead and 30% across England’s towns. More households in flats than in 93% of UK towns: 27%. Census day 2021: 11,752 residents and 5,531 households locally. Across Minehead, just over a fifth of households have no car or van.
What the Census says about Minehead’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Minehead’s residents are under 54.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Minehead at 11,900 in 2011 and 11,900 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 86% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Minehead has changed by ±0%, slower than 86% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Minehead’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,900 people in 2011; 11,900 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+16%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−26%).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 96% of UK towns, at 34%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Minehead, 54.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
A lower share of full-time students than 89% of UK towns, at 3.8%
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%.
By class, 27% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 97% of UK towns: 18%
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.
Households in Minehead hold 2 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 3.1% locally.
A lower share of households in detached houses than 65% of UK towns, at 24%
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
Locally, a fifth of households live in a terraced house. 27% of households live in a flat, more than in 93% of UK towns; 24% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 70% of UK towns
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
Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK; in Minehead, 7.5%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (5%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison.
40% said they have no religion, fewer than in 58% 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: 92% of Minehead · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (5.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.3%). The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. Minehead has more residents who describe themselves as Christian than nearly three fifths of UK towns, at 51%. On top of that, with residents who describe themselves as White British at 92%, Minehead is ahead of 52% of UK towns on that count.
Only 31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Minehead
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
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 45% in Minehead. In Minehead, 10% of residents give unpaid care. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Minehead, 22%, while 25% hold one at degree level (34%).
Of 432 UK towns its size (8,000 to 16,000 people), the 12th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Minehead in age: Porthcawl (54.1), Cleveleys (54.3), Hornsea (54.6) and Storrington (54.6).
A younger town than 1 of the 3 around it: Minehead
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Minehead’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Minehead’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,752 people in 2021, against 11,752 in the built-up area.
- 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 Minehead’s residents
What is the population of Minehead?
The 2021 Census counted 11,752 people in Minehead’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,900 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Minehead?
The median age was 54.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 96% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Minehead?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 7.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Minehead?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 7.9% didn’t answer.
Is Minehead good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Minehead’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.