Photo: Dillydillyston at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Nailsea is over 50.9, older than 89% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Nailsea, 25%. Lower than in four fifths of UK towns: 24% of households have dependent children. Census day 2021: 15,919 residents and 7,054 households in the town. Here, 44% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Nailsea’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Nailsea’s residents are under 50.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Nailsea has changed by +2%, slower than 76% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Nailsea’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,600 people in 2011; 15,900 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+32%), the 45 to 64 group the smallest (−15%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 220 people.
30% of Nailsea is 65 or over, a higher share than 91% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.4% here and 12% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Nailsea, 50.9. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.6% in Nailsea, less than in 74% 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%.
Just over two fifths of Nailsea’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The share of full-time students stands at 4.5%.
Nailsea sits below 75% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (1.9%)
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.
At 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Against that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Here, 29% of households are one person living alone.
13% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 80% of UK towns
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 figure for households in flats is 9.2% in Nailsea and 23% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. One household in every 8 has no car or van.
Nailsea: 98% of residents have English as their main language, above 61% 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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 16% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). As a yardstick, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 93%, a higher share than 59% 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: 93% of Nailsea · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Nailsea comes in at 51%. Residents with no religion account for 42%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%.
More married adults and civil partners than 88% of UK towns: 55%
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
372 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 9.4%.
36% of adults have a degree-level qualification
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 Nailsea, 36%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 50 in Nailsea East to 53 in Long Ashton & Gordano
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Long Ashton & Gordano is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Nailsea East the youngest (median age 50). Families with children are most common in Long Ashton & Gordano (28% of households).
20th oldest of 354 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Nailsea in age: Poulton-le-Fylde (50.9), Neston (50.9), Humberston and New Waltham (51.2) and Ilkley (51.3).
No nearby town is as old as Nailsea
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nailsea | 15,919 | — | 50.9 | 30% | 24% |
| Backwell | 4,347 | 1.4 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 34% |
| Portishead | 26,351 | 3.7 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 29% |
| Yatton | 7,704 | 3.9 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 29% |
| Clevedon | 21,084 | 4.1 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 24% |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 4.1 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 37% |
| Pill | 4,956 | 4.6 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Congresbury | 2,795 | 4.8 mi | 49.2 | 28% | 25% |
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 Nailsea’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. Nailsea’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,535 people in 2021, against 15,919 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 Nailsea’s residents
What is the population of Nailsea?
The 2021 Census counted 15,919 people in Nailsea’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,900 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Nailsea?
The median age was 50.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 89% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Nailsea?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 6.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Nailsea?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Nailsea good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Long Ashton & Gordano (28% of households). Schools are on Nailsea’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.