Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 51.7: Hartest is older than 91% of UK towns
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Hartest has 3.1%. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 64% here, more than in 99% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Hartest was home to 471 people in 195 households. Here, just over a fifth of households are one person living alone.
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 85% of UK towns
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 Hartest comes in at 11%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 7.1%, a higher share than 92% 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%.
By its share of residents who moved in within the year (9.6%), Hartest is above two thirds of UK towns. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 87% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
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 share of shared households of unrelated adults tops just over three fifths of UK towns: 2.6%. What’s more, more households with dependent children than in three fifths of UK towns: 28%.
Few flats: only 1% of households in Hartest live in one
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Hartest has 7.8%. 63% of households live in a detached house. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Hartest sits above 84% of UK towns for 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). More residents born outside the UK than in 58% of UK towns: 7.2%. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%.
44% said they have no religion, more than in 69% of UK towns
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: 94% of Hartest · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
94% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%. The benchmark for residents with no religion across England’s towns: 37%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: half of the total.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 98% of UK towns: 22%
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 Hartest, 6.8% of residents give unpaid care, beside 8.7% across England’s towns. 11 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 43% 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 Hartest, 10%, while 43% hold one at degree level (34%). A levels are the highest qualification of 19%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Hartest
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartest | 471 | — | 51.7 | 28% | 28% |
| Glemsford | 3,693 | 2.8 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 25% |
| Long Melford | 3,895 | 4.7 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 19% |
| Lavenham | 1,224 | 5.5 mi | 61.6 | 42% | 11% |
| Clare | 2,278 | 5.8 mi | 53.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Acton | 1,666 | 6.2 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 27% |
| Cock and End | 1,346 | 7 mi | 34.9 | 3% | 21% |
| Great Waldingfield | 1,377 | 7.3 mi | 51.1 | 30% | 27% |
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 Hartest’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 Hartest’s residents
What is the population of Hartest?
The 2021 Census counted 471 people in Hartest’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hartest?
The median age was 51.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hartest?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 7.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hartest?
44% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Hartest good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hartest’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.