Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 89% of UK towns: half of Wiveliscombe is over 51
The share of households with dependent children trails 86% of UK towns: 23%. Few places have as many one-person households: 34% here, more than in 81% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 2,316 people lived in Wiveliscombe, in 1,049 households. Residents with no religion account for 45%.
What the Census says about Wiveliscombe’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wiveliscombe’s residents are under 51 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% 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).
29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 81% of UK towns: 4.1%
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: 7.8%, below 71% of UK towns. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Smaller households than 80% 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.
In Wiveliscombe, 3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns.
34% of households live in a terraced house, a share 89% of UK towns don’t reach
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
With households in flats at 13%, Wiveliscombe is ahead of 60% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, households in terraced houses come to 24%. The census found that just over one in ten households have no car or van in the village. Compared with other places, households in detached houses are common here: 31%, more than in 54% of UK towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Wiveliscombe, more than in 78% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. Wiveliscombe has fewer residents born outside the UK than 65% of UK towns, at 4.9%. 7.2% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 81% of UK towns: 95%
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: 95% of Wiveliscombe · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 46% across England’s towns, 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Wiveliscombe. For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.2%).
A lower share of adults who have never married than 74% of UK towns, at 29%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 48 people. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, Wiveliscombe sits higher than 59% of UK towns: 9.7%.
Among adults, 34% hold a degree-level qualification
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 Wiveliscombe, 16%, while 34% hold one at degree level (34%).
Wiveliscombe sits below 2 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiveliscombe | 2,316 | — | 51 | 29% | 23% |
| Milverton | 1,112 | 2.8 mi | 53.9 | 30% | 22% |
| Cotford St Luke | 2,411 | 5.4 mi | 36.9 | 12% | 39% |
| Rockwell Green | 2,854 | 5.6 mi | 46.7 | 22% | 27% |
| Bishops Lydeard | 2,050 | 5.6 mi | 50.9 | 30% | 24% |
| Wellington | 13,815 | 5.7 mi | 45 | 24% | 25% |
| Norton Fitzwarren | 3,770 | 7.3 mi | 35.7 | 14% | 31% |
| Williton | 2,433 | 8.3 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 20% |
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 Wiveliscombe’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 Wiveliscombe’s residents
What is the population of Wiveliscombe?
The 2021 Census counted 2,316 people in Wiveliscombe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wiveliscombe?
The median age was 51 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wiveliscombe?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wiveliscombe?
45% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Wiveliscombe good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wiveliscombe’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.