Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Halesworth is over 54, older than 95% of UK towns
By its share of one-person households (39%), Halesworth is above 98% of UK towns. For Halesworth, the census puts adults who have never married at 29%. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 81% of UK towns. This Suffolk town had 4,924 residents in 2,414 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Halesworth’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Halesworth’s residents are under 54 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 35% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Halesworth grew +8% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 53% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Halesworth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,700 people in 2011; 5,100 in 2024.
The 0 to 15 age group moved most (+20%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−15%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 80 people.
Halesworth sits above 97% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (35%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Halesworth has 7.2%. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Halesworth, 54. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Only 3.2% of adults are full-time students in Halesworth
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 Halesworth, 10%. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
18% of households have dependent children, below 97% of UK towns
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.
Households in Halesworth hold 2 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). For households with dependent children, the comparison across England’s towns is 29%.
18% of households have no car or van, more than in 64% of UK towns
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
Set against 23% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten households live in a flat or apartment in Halesworth. On average, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Census figures put households in detached houses at 31% here.
Halesworth ranks above 85% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%
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
4.4% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
A higher White British share than 81% of UK towns: 95% of residents
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 Halesworth · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 48% in Halesworth. As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The census found that 45% of residents said they have no religion here.
Halesworth ranks below 57% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 47%
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 number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 161. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 9.3%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 26% of adults in Halesworth, 34% across England’s towns; 24% have no qualification, against 18%.
Ranked by age, 57th oldest of 810 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Halesworth in age: Skellingthorpe (53.9), Heckington (53.9), Sandwich (54) and Stokesley (54.2).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Halesworth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halesworth | 4,924 | — | 54 | 35% | 18% |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 6.6 mi | 52.3 | 28% | 19% |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 6.8 mi | 59.2 | 40% | 17% |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 8 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 22% |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 8 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 23% |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 8.2 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 24% |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 8.7 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 9.2 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 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 Halesworth’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. Halesworth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,924 people in 2021, against 4,924 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 Halesworth’s residents
What is the population of Halesworth?
The 2021 Census counted 4,924 people in Halesworth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,100 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Halesworth?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census, older than 95% of UK towns. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Halesworth?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Halesworth?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Halesworth good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Halesworth’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.