Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 95% of UK towns: half of Bacton and Cotton is over 53.9
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97% here and 73% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,567 residents in 683 households. In Bacton and Cotton, 62% of households live in a detached house. Lower than in 99% of UK towns: 0.7% of households live in a flat or apartment.
What the Census says about Bacton and Cotton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bacton and Cotton’s residents are under 53.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% 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).
31% of residents are 65 or over, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 8.6% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9%, fewer than in 76% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Bacton and Cotton ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 5.7%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Bacton and Cotton has 34% and 23%. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The share of full-time students stands at 3.9%.
Fewer families than 96% of UK towns: 19% of households have children
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Suffolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
One-person households: 24%, below 90% of UK towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. A household here holds 2.3 people on average.
Only 8% of households live in a terraced house in Bacton and Cotton
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
By its share of households without a car or van (8.2%), Bacton and Cotton is below 91% of UK towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
3% of residents were born outside the UK, below 91% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%). 100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% of UK towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Bacton and Cotton: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 79% 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: 97% of Bacton and Cotton · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 38% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 23%, a lower share than 98% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 28. 58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 96% of UK towns. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, 9.1% here is much the same as across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Bacton and Cotton, 26%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
No nearby town is as old as Bacton and Cotton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | — | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 2.9 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | 3 mi | 47 | 29% | 23% |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 3.7 mi | 48.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Walsham le Willows | 1,258 | 4 mi | 49 | 25% | 25% |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 4.6 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 4.6 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 5.2 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Suffolk’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Suffolk (or England), summed the same way as Bacton and Cotton’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 Bacton and Cotton’s residents
What is the population of Bacton and Cotton?
The 2021 Census counted 1,567 people in Bacton and Cotton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bacton and Cotton?
The median age was 53.9 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bacton and Cotton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bacton and Cotton?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Bacton and Cotton good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bacton and Cotton’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.