Photo: Bob Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Elmsett is older than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 54
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 5.8% of households have no car or van in Elmsett. The village has fewer households in terraced houses than 99% of UK towns, at 2.8%. There were 428 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 1,001 residents. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 1.4%.
What the Census says about Elmsett’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Elmsett’s residents are under 54 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% 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).
Residents aged 65 and over: 32%, a higher share than 94% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Across Elmsett, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Elmsett sits above 59% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (9.2%)
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, 40% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 17% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Full-time students: 4.9% of the total.
Only 23% of households are one person living alone in Elmsett
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.
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Elmsett has 23%. The usual figure: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
More households in detached houses than 98% of UK towns: 64%
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
In Elmsett, 3.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, beside 23% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Above 97% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
3.9% of residents were born outside the UK (England’s towns: 18%). Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in Africa (1.2%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 93% of UK towns, at 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 Elmsett · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Pakistani (0.1%). Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 33%, fewer than in 87% of UK towns. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Elmsett has 60%.
63% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% of UK towns
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
In Elmsett, a fifth of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, beside 39% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 92% of UK towns. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Elmsett, 15%, while 34% hold one at degree level (34%).
No nearby town is as old as Elmsett
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmsett | 1,001 | — | 54 | 32% | 23% |
| Hadleigh | 8,638 | 2.7 mi | 46.7 | 27% | 27% |
| Great Bricett | 1,518 | 3.1 mi | 28.2 | 8.8% | 40% |
| Bildeston | 1,096 | 4.2 mi | 50.1 | 24% | 24% |
| Bramford | 2,335 | 4.3 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 19% |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 4.8 mi | 31.9 | 8.7% | 35% |
| Claydon | 3,140 | 5.4 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 26% |
| Needham Market | 5,055 | 5.7 mi | 50 | 28% | 19% |
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 Elmsett’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 Elmsett’s residents
What is the population of Elmsett?
The 2021 Census counted 1,001 people in Elmsett’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Elmsett?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Elmsett?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Elmsett?
33% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Elmsett good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Elmsett’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.