Ivy House Farmhouse · Photo: Sandy Gerrard · CC BY-SA 2.01% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
The share of households in flats is 0.8%, against 23% across England’s towns. More households in detached houses than in 98% of UK towns: 63%. The 2021 Census counted 1,172 residents in 500 households. Across Gislingham, three in five adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Gislingham’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Gislingham’s residents are under 50.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 24% 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).
A median age of 50.3: Gislingham is older than 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 24% of residents are 65 or over in Gislingham. In Halesworth, the oldest of Suffolk’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 77% of UK towns
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 or semi-routine work; Gislingham has 39% and 21%. The census found that 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Below 90% of UK towns: 24% of households are one person living alone
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.
29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, against 25% in Gislingham. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%. A household here holds 2.3 people on average.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 97% of UK towns: 6%
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
The figure for households in terraced houses is 11% in Gislingham and 24% across England’s towns. One household in 17 has no car or van.
Gislingham: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 88% 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
4.7% of residents were born outside the UK (England’s towns: 18%). For comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.8%) and in Africa (1%).
Gislingham sits above 86% 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 Gislingham · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion; in Gislingham, 44%. For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across England’s towns is 73%. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.2%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than in 56% of UK towns: 49%.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 97% of UK towns, at 23%
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: 8.3%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. To put it in context, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 19.
Qualified to degree level: 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Gislingham, 30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 14% have no qualification at all (18%).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Gislingham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gislingham | 1,172 | — | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 2.9 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 3 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Walsham le Willows | 1,258 | 4.2 mi | 49 | 25% | 25% |
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | 4.2 mi | 47 | 29% | 23% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 4.7 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) | 1,117 | 5.7 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Diss | 9,599 | 6 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
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 Gislingham’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 Gislingham’s residents
What is the population of Gislingham?
The 2021 Census counted 1,172 people in Gislingham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gislingham?
The median age was 50.3 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gislingham?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gislingham?
44% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Gislingham good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gislingham’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.