Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.029% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 89% of UK towns
With households with dependent children at 23%, Bungay is behind 86% of UK towns on that count. Unpaid carers account for 11%. At 35%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 88% of UK towns. 5,012 residents in 2,293 households: that is Bungay at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Bungay’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 89% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Since 2011, Bungay has changed by +1%, slower than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bungay’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,100 people in 2011; 5,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+18%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−12%). The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 160 people.
A median age of 49.2: Bungay is older than 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Bungay. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bungay, 49.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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 lower share of full-time students than 94% of UK towns, at 3.6%
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 work; in Bungay, 28% and 30%. More residents who moved in within the year than in 56% of UK towns: 9%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 87% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here.
34% of households live in a detached house, more than in 63% 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
With households without a car or van at 16%, Bungay is ahead of 53% of UK towns on that count. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. For Bungay, the census puts households in terraced houses at 22%. On households in flats, Bungay sits lower than 52% of UK towns: 10%.
In Bungay, 97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 66% 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
Of residents born abroad, 17% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). 6.4% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 50% of UK towns. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison.
45% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 74% 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: 93% of Bungay · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (4.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.3%). Across the comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here, fewer than in 64% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 93% here and 73% across England’s towns.
Fewer adults who have never married than 60% of UK towns: 31%
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
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 45% in Bungay. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 26% of its adults qualified to degree level, Bungay compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 22% hold no qualification (18%).
Of 516 UK towns its size (4,000 to 7,000 people), the 135th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Bungay in age: Old Tupton (49.2), Haslington (49.2), Southbourne (49.2) and Edwinstowe (49.3).
Of the 7 towns nearest Bungay, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bungay | 5,012 | — | 49.2 | 29% | 23% |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 1.3 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 19% |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 5.3 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 22% |
| Loddon | 2,247 | 5.8 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 6.2 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 24% |
| Chedgrave | 1,053 | 6.5 mi | 57 | 39% | 20% |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 7 mi | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Thurlton | 1,145 | 7.1 mi | 49.4 | 24% | 27% |
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 Bungay’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. Bungay’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,012 people in 2021, against 5,012 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 Bungay’s residents
What is the population of Bungay?
The 2021 Census counted 5,012 people in Bungay’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Bungay?
The median age was 49.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 81% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bungay?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 6.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bungay?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Bungay good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bungay’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. 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.