Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 57: West Camel is older than 98% of UK towns
Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, West Camel has 24%. On households in flats, West Camel sits lower than 97% of UK towns: 1.9%. Census day 2021: 449 residents and 216 households in the village. 16% of households have dependent children.
37% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Below 96% of UK towns: 6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
36% of West Camel’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. For West Camel, the census puts full-time students at 5.7%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 92% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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 make up 2.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. One-person households account for 28%.
51% of households live in a detached house, more than in 90% 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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, one in ten households live in a terraced house here. Households without a car or van account for 9.4%. 1.9% of households live in a flat, less than in 97% of UK towns; 51% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
West Camel ranks above 61% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
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
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 5.8% of residents were born outside the UK in West Camel. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). Measured more widely, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
West Camel: 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 90% 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: 96% of West Camel · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 36%, against 37% across England’s towns. 96% of residents describe themselves as White British. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%.
More unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns: 15%
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 59% in West Camel. The usual figure: 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
33% of West Camel’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than West Camel
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Camel | 449 | — | 57 | 37% | 16% |
| Ilchester | 2,062 | 3.4 mi | 35.3 | 14% | 37% |
| Keinton Mandeville | 1,216 | 4.1 mi | 50.7 | 26% | 27% |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 5.3 mi | 40 | 19% | 28% |
| Sherborne | 10,359 | 6.1 mi | 50.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Castle Cary | 3,451 | 6.2 mi | 51.9 | 32% | 21% |
| Somerton | 5,106 | 6.4 mi | 50 | 30% | 24% |
| Milborne Port | 3,207 | 6.9 mi | 47.8 | 26% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 West Camel’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 West Camel’s residents
What is the population of West Camel?
The 2021 Census counted 449 people in West Camel’s built-up area.
What is the average age in West Camel?
The median age was 57 at the 2021 Census. 7.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is West Camel?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in West Camel?
36% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is West Camel good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on West Camel’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.