Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 83% of UK towns: half of Debenham is over 49.7
Across England’s towns, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Debenham, 26%. 5.2% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 82% of UK towns. Its 994 households held 2,294 residents at the 2021 Census. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 15%.
What the Census says about Debenham’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 87% 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).
29% of residents are 65 or over, a share 87% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Debenham comes in at 11%. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
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.
Above 81% of UK towns: 5.8% of adults are full-time students
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, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Debenham, 10%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 63% of UK towns: 2.6%
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.
In Debenham the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Set beside that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. For Debenham, the census puts one-person households at 29%. Fewer households with dependent children than in 52% of UK towns: 27%.
More households in detached houses than 90% of UK towns: 51%
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 11%, Debenham is behind 77% of UK towns on that count. By way of comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
100% of residents have English as their main language, a share 99% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 4.7% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Locally, 4.8% of residents were born outside the UK.
Debenham sits above 80% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (95%)
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: 95% of Debenham · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 55%, above nearly four fifths of UK towns. In Debenham, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%.
More married adults and civil partners than 82% of UK towns: 53%
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: 62. Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%. More unpaid carers than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 10%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 35% of its adults qualified to degree level, Debenham compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 16% hold no qualification (18%).
Debenham sits below 4 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debenham | 2,294 | — | 49.7 | 29% | 27% |
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | 4.4 mi | 47 | 29% | 23% |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 6.9 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 7 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 27% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 7 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Needham Market | 5,055 | 7.2 mi | 50 | 28% | 19% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 7.4 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 7.6 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Debenham’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 Debenham’s residents
What is the population of Debenham?
The 2021 Census counted 2,294 people in Debenham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Debenham?
The median age was 49.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Debenham?
95% 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 Debenham?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Debenham good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Debenham’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.