Photo: Mr Eugene Birchall · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 40: Yeovil is younger than 80% of UK towns
Against a figure of 73% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British in Yeovil comes in at 86%. 50,170 residents in 21,829 households: that is Yeovil at the 2021 Census. For Yeovil, the census puts households in flats at 18%. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are common here: 27%, more than in three quarters of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, Yeovil outgrew 69% of UK towns: +13%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Yeovil’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 46,100 people in 2011; 51,900 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 770. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+27%) and 16 to 29 least (−3%).
Yeovil sits above 80% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (11%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 19% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Yeovil, 40. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Yeovil ranks above 76% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 10%
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%.
30% of Yeovil’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. On the census count, 4.8% of adults are full-time students. To put it in context, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
3.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 84% of UK towns
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, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Yeovil has 28%. For shared households of unrelated adults, the comparison across England’s towns is 4.3%. One-person households: 31% of the total.
More households without a car or van than 61% of UK towns: 18%
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
Households in detached houses make up 21%, close to the figure across England’s towns. On average, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 13% in Yeovil, more than in 82% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.9%). 91% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 90% of UK towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Since 2017: 28% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 54% of UK towns, at 50%
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: 86% of Yeovil · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (8%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (1.2%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Here 41% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across England’s towns is 37%.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 67% of UK towns: 35%
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
For 1,186 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. 8.3% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The share of married adults and civil partners trails 69% of UK towns: 45%.
Qualified to degree level: 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 27% of Yeovil’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 37 in Yeovil Town to 47 in Yeovil South
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Yeovil South is the oldest area, with 25% aged 65 or over; Yeovil Town the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Yeovil Lufton & Hollands (32% of households).
135 UK towns of 35,000 to 68,000 people: this is the 50th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Lytham St Anne's (54.4), the oldest. Nearest to Yeovil in age: Braintree (40), Dover (40), Havant (40) and Royal Tunbridge Wells (40.1).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Yeovil
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeovil | 50,170 | — | 40 | 19% | 28% |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 2.1 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 24% |
| Ilchester | 2,062 | 4.7 mi | 35.3 | 14% | 37% |
| Stoke sub Hamdon | 1,360 | 4.9 mi | 51.2 | 27% | 22% |
| Sherborne | 10,359 | 5.1 mi | 50.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Martock | 4,079 | 5.9 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 20% |
| Merriott | 2,068 | 7.2 mi | 51.3 | 30% | 23% |
| South Petherton | 3,096 | 7.4 mi | 53.5 | 35% | 22% |
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 Yeovil’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. Yeovil’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 50,237 people in 2021, against 50,170 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 Yeovil’s residents
What is the population of Yeovil?
The 2021 Census counted 50,170 people in Yeovil’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 51,900 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Yeovil?
The median age was 40 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Yeovil?
86% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Yeovil?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Yeovil good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Yeovil Lufton & Hollands (32% of households). Schools are on Yeovil’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.