Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0In Pill, 47% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 87% of UK towns
The median age in Pill is 46.5, higher than in 65% of UK towns. On the census count, 27% of households are one person living alone. This Somerset town counted 4,956 residents and 2,151 households at the 2021 Census. Married adults and civil partners: 50% here and 44% across England’s towns.
What the Census says about Pill’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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Pill has changed by +3%, slower than 71% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Pill’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,800 people in 2011; 5,000 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 100 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+10%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−3%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 24%, a higher share than 68% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.4%, against 12% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Pill, 46.5. 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.
Fewer full-time students than 74% of UK towns: 4.3%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 8.1% here and 11% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Pill ranks above 80% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.2%
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, households average 2.4 people; in Pill, 2.3. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 27% locally.
Households without a car or van make up 13% in Pill, less than in 66% 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
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 13% of households live in a flat or apartment in Pill. About one household in 8 lives without a car or van. Households in terraced houses are rarer here than in 58% of UK towns.
97% of residents have English as their main language, below 58% 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
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 18%. For Pill, the census puts residents born outside the UK at 6.9%. Measured more widely, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 77% of UK towns, at 45%
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 Pill · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, where the figure across England’s towns is 73%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (4.5%), Mixed or multiple (2.2%) and African (0.3%).
A lower share of adults who have never married than 62% of UK towns, at 31%
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
128 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On unpaid carers, Pill sits higher than 57% of UK towns: 9.6%. As a yardstick, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Pill, 35% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 16% have no qualification at all (18%).
Of 810 UK towns its size (3,000 to 7,000 people), the 404th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Pill in age: Shavington (46.5), Upper Tean (46.5), Fishbourne (46.5) and Deepcar (46.6).
A younger town than 2 of the 7 around it: Pill
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pill | 4,956 | — | 46.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Avonmouth | 2,643 | 1.4 mi | 35.9 | 11% | 29% |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 3.5 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 37% |
| Portishead | 26,351 | 3.7 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 29% |
| Bristol | 425,196 | 4.3 mi | 33.9 | 13% | 26% |
| Nailsea | 15,919 | 4.6 mi | 50.9 | 30% | 24% |
| Backwell | 4,347 | 5.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 34% |
| Filton | 10,955 | 5.4 mi | 34.3 | 16% | 23% |
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 Pill’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. Pill’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,956 people in 2021, against 4,956 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 Pill’s residents
What is the population of Pill?
The 2021 Census counted 4,956 people in Pill’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,000 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Pill?
The median age was 46.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 65% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pill?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pill?
47% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Pill good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Pill’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.