Photo: Keith Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 56.4: Bentley is older than 98% of UK towns
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. There were 243 households in Bentley at the 2021 Census, home to 547 residents. The share of one-person households stands at 21%. Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Bentley comes in at 63%.
38% of residents are 65 or over, a share 98% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 75–79 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2.9 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9.6%, fewer than in 55% of UK towns. Against that, 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 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 72% of UK towns: 7.7% 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%.
By class, 36% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). To put it in context, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 4.8% in Bentley.
Fewer households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns: 20%
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.
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.1%.
Below 98% of UK towns: 5.4% of households have no car or van
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
Here 63% of households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%. As a reference point, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 15% of the total.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 90% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK in Bentley comes in at 4.8%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.4%), then in Africa (1.1%).
60% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 94% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Bentley · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Caribbean (0.2%). At 96%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in 89% of UK towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The share of residents with no religion is 34%, against 37% across England’s towns.
Below 99% of UK towns: 21% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8%, from the figure across England’s towns. For comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 31%
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 Bentley, 31%, and 16% have none, against 18%.
The towns around Bentley are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | 547 | — | 56.4 | 38% | 20% |
| Capel St Mary | 2,992 | 1.3 mi | 50.7 | 31% | 25% |
| Brantham | 2,081 | 1.9 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 28% |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 2.4 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 25% |
| Manningtree | 1,676 | 3.2 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 15% |
| Mistley | 1,827 | 3.5 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 22% |
| Lawford | 4,488 | 3.6 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 29% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 3.7 mi | 41.6 | 22% | 29% |
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 Bentley’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 Bentley’s residents
What is the population of Bentley?
The 2021 Census counted 547 people in Bentley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bentley?
The median age was 56.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bentley?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bentley?
34% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Bentley good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bentley’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.