Photo: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0Clare is older than 94% of UK towns: a median age of 53.2
38% of households are one person living alone (England’s towns: 30%). Locally, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British. On households in detached houses, Clare sits higher than three quarters of UK towns: 40%. At the 2021 Census Clare was home to 2,278 people in 1,115 households.
What the Census says about Clare’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Clare’s residents are under 53.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% 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).
33% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24; in Clare, 8.2%. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
Fewer full-time students than 90% of UK towns: 3.8%
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 account for 37% of Clare’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 21%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 8.4%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Clare sits below 96% of UK towns for households with dependent children (19%)
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, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Households average 2 people. The share of households with dependent children across England’s towns is 29%.
Few flats: only 7.3% of households in Clare live in one
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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Clare comes in at 19%. In one household in 5 there is no car or van. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Clare, more than in 95% 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
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 4.3% of residents were born outside the UK in Clare. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) and in Africa (1.1%). Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language.
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 72% 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: 96% of Clare · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.2%). Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in half of UK towns.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 96% of UK towns, at 24%
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 53 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 66% of UK towns. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Here one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%.
Among adults, 30% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of adults in Clare (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 20% (England’s towns: 18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Clare, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare | 2,278 | — | 53.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Kedington | 1,778 | 3.9 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 30% |
| Glemsford | 3,693 | 4 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 25% |
| Great Yeldham | 1,824 | 4.5 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 30% |
| Cock and End | 1,346 | 4.9 mi | 34.9 | 3% | 21% |
| Long Melford | 3,895 | 5.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 19% |
| Castle Hedingham | 1,045 | 6.2 mi | 52.9 | 32% | 21% |
| Steeple Bumpstead | 1,376 | 6.2 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 25% |
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 Clare’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 Clare’s residents
What is the population of Clare?
The 2021 Census counted 2,278 people in Clare’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Clare?
The median age was 53.2 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Clare?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Clare?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Clare good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Clare’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.