Photo: Geof Sheppard · CC BY-SA 4.030% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
With one-person households at 34%, Weston-super-Mare is ahead of 84% of UK towns on that count. Still, 87% of residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 73% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Weston-super-Mare was home to 84,600 people in 37,818 households. Census figures put households without a car or van at 22% locally.
Weston-super-Mare grew +9% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Weston-super-Mare’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 80,400 people in 2011; 87,800 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+17%) and the 0 to 15 least (+1%). In one year, mid-2015 to mid-2016, the population rose by 1,150, the most of any year.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 10%, a higher share than 72% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
21% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). The median age in Weston-super-Mare is 43.1, lower than in 61% of UK towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Weston-super-Mare, 43.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 5.2%, a higher share than 67% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 29% of Weston-super-Mare’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 30%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 75% of UK towns: 2.2 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.
27% of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). Here, 3.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households in terraced houses: 18%, a lower share than 59% 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
Little separates the share of households in detached houses here, 21%, from the figure across England’s towns. Typically, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Weston-super-Mare sits below 84% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (93%)
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
Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 20% (England’s towns: 21%). In Weston-super-Mare, 11% of residents were born outside the UK. Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language.
No religion: 47% of residents, a higher share than 85% 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: 87% of Weston-super-Mare · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Weston-super-Mare, 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (7.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Indian (0.6%). To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners: 42%, a lower share than 84% of UK towns
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
36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. The share of unpaid carers stands at 9.3%. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Weston-super-Mare, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 32 in Weston Winterstoke to 50 in Weston Hillside
The town’s 12 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Weston Hillside is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Weston Winterstoke the youngest (median age 32). Families with children are most common in Weston Winterstoke (43% of households).
18th highest median age among 88 UK towns of 59,000 to 114,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 29.8 in Salford to 48.4 in Paignton. Nearest to Weston-super-Mare in age: Gosport (42.6), Halesowen (42.9), Wallasey (43.2) and Shrewsbury (43.2).
Weston-super-Mare and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weston-super-Mare | 84,600 | — | 43.1 | 21% | 27% |
| Kewstoke | 1,609 | 1.5 mi | 54.8 | 32% | 18% |
| Hutton | 1,686 | 1.8 mi | 57.8 | 38% | 18% |
| Locking | 3,819 | 1.9 mi | 38.7 | 18% | 35% |
| West Wick | 2,425 | 2 mi | 33.3 | 7.4% | 45% |
| Banwell | 2,178 | 3.5 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Winscombe and Sandford | 4,605 | 5.3 mi | 53.8 | 34% | 22% |
| Berrow and Brean | 2,252 | 5.7 mi | 58.5 | 38% | 15% |
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 Weston-super-Mare’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. Weston-super-Mare’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 85,345 people in 2021, against 84,600 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 Weston-super-Mare’s residents
What is the population of Weston-super-Mare?
The 2021 Census counted 84,600 people in Weston-super-Mare’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 87,800 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Weston-super-Mare?
The median age was 43.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 61% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Weston-super-Mare?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Weston-super-Mare?
47% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Weston-super-Mare good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Weston Winterstoke (43% of households). Schools are on Weston-super-Mare’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.