Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.027% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 81% of UK towns
Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 86% of UK towns. Hadleigh had 8,638 residents and 3,644 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 46.7 (older than nearly two thirds of UK towns). Here, 39% of households live in a detached house. The share of households in flats is 7.2%, against 23% across England’s towns.
A +11% change since 2011: Hadleigh grew faster than 66% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hadleigh’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,300 people in 2011; 9,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+43%) and the 30 to 44 least (−2%). Mid-2021 to mid-2022 brought the biggest yearly rise, 270 people.
Half of Hadleigh is over 46.7, older than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: 7.1% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. On residents aged 15 to 24, Hadleigh sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 9.9%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hadleigh, 46.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
9.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a share 66% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
33% of Hadleigh’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%. On the census count, 4.9% of adults are full-time students.
Below 72% of UK towns: 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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.
The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Lower than in 65% of UK towns: 28% of households are one person living alone. Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Here, 27% of households have dependent children.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 62% of UK towns, at 13%
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
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Hadleigh has 23%. About one household in 8 lives without a car or van.
Hadleigh: 98% of residents have English as their main language, above 60% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 13% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in Africa (1.5%). Hadleigh has more residents born outside the UK than 52% of UK towns, at 6.5%. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 58% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 93% of Hadleigh · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and African (1%). Fewer residents with no religion than in 52% of UK towns: 41%. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93%, against 73% across England’s towns.
53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 80% 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
The share of unpaid carers trails 91% of UK towns: 7.5%. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
27% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Hadleigh’s adults: 27% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 482 UK towns its size (6,000 to 12,000 people), the 161st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Hadleigh in age: Stocksbridge (46.7), Coleshill (46.7), Holbeach (46.8) and Market Deeping (46.8).
5 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Hadleigh
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hadleigh | 8,638 | — | 46.7 | 27% | 27% |
| Elmsett | 1,001 | 2.7 mi | 54 | 32% | 23% |
| Bildeston | 1,096 | 4.7 mi | 50.1 | 24% | 24% |
| Capel St Mary | 2,992 | 4.9 mi | 50.7 | 31% | 25% |
| Great Bricett | 1,518 | 5.2 mi | 28.2 | 8.8% | 40% |
| East Bergholt | 2,211 | 5.5 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 25% |
| Bramford | 2,335 | 6.2 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 19% |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 7.3 mi | 31.9 | 8.7% | 35% |
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 Hadleigh’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. Hadleigh’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,752 people in 2021, against 8,638 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 Hadleigh’s residents
What is the population of Hadleigh?
The 2021 Census counted 8,638 people in Hadleigh’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,200 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hadleigh?
The median age was 46.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hadleigh?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 6.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hadleigh?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Hadleigh good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hadleigh’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.