White Horse Inn · Photo: Brammers · CC BY-SA 3.0In Capel St Mary, 66% of households live in a detached house, more than in 98% of UK towns
The share of households in terraced houses is 6.6%, against 24% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns. Capel St Mary counted 2,992 residents and 1,281 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 1.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What the Census says about Capel St Mary’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Capel St Mary’s residents are under 50.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Capel St Mary at 2,900 in 2011 and 3,400 in 2024, up 20%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 85% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Capel St Mary grew +20% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Capel St Mary’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,900 people in 2011; 3,400 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+46%) and the 45 to 64 group least (−3%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 150 people.
Half of Capel St Mary is over 50.7, older than 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 31% of residents are 65 or over here. In Capel St Mary, 9.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Capel St Mary, 50.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Only 7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Capel St Mary
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 44% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 18% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns: 11%. Full-time students account for 4.3%.
Fewer people live alone than in 90% of UK towns: 24% of households
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. One-person households make up 30% across England’s towns. 25% of households have dependent children.
Households in flats make up 2.7% in Capel St Mary, less than in 94% 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
Nearly one in ten households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Households in flats make up 23% across England’s towns.
Capel St Mary: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 96% 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, 12% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. 4.1% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 76% of UK towns. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).
Capel St Mary sits above 90% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (96%)
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 Capel St Mary · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (1.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.5%). 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 78% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. The share of residents with no religion is 39%, against 37% across England’s towns.
59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 97% of UK towns don’t reach
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
At 8.7%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 59 residents.
34% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 34% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 14% hold no qualification (18%).
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 105th oldest
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 Keele (20.6), the youngest, and West Chiltington (63.1), the oldest. Nearest to Capel St Mary in age: West Winch (50.6), Badsey (50.7), Pulborough (50.7) and Saughall (50.8).
Of the 7 towns nearest Capel St Mary, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capel St Mary | 2,992 | — | 50.7 | 31% | 25% |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 2.1 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 25% |
| Brantham | 2,081 | 2.8 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 28% |
| Manningtree | 1,676 | 4.1 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 15% |
| Lawford | 4,488 | 4.3 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 29% |
| Mistley | 1,827 | 4.6 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 22% |
| Hadleigh | 8,638 | 4.9 mi | 46.7 | 27% | 27% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 4.9 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 Capel St Mary’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. Capel St Mary’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,108 people in 2021, against 2,992 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 Capel St Mary’s residents
What is the population of Capel St Mary?
The 2021 Census counted 2,992 people in Capel St Mary’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,400 people in mid-2024, 20% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Capel St Mary?
The median age was 50.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 88% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Capel St Mary?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Capel St Mary?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Capel St Mary good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Capel St Mary’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.