Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 39.2: Haverhill is younger than 84% of UK towns
Compared with 29% across England’s towns, nearly a third of households have dependent children here. At the 2021 Census Haverhill was home to 26,704 people in 11,034 households. Here, 19% of households have no car or van. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 80% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Haverhill’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
Since 2011, Haverhill has changed by +2%, slower than 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Haverhill’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 27,100 people in 2011; 27,600 in 2024.
Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 430 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+27%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−17%).
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 85% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%, against 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Haverhill, 39.2. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 59% of UK towns: 4.6%
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%.
Against a figure of 11% across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year in Haverhill comes in at 10%. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Larger households than 79% of UK towns: 2.4 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.
At 3.4%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Here, 28% of households are one person living alone.
A larger share of households in terraced houses than 92% of UK towns: 37%
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 detached houses is 21%; Haverhill has 24%. By contrast, this Suffolk town has more households in flats than 57% of UK towns, at 12%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 14% in Haverhill, more than in 84% 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
23% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. The share of residents whose main language is English stands at 91%. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Above 89% of UK towns: 48% of residents said they have no religion
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: 84% of Haverhill · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Haverhill comes in at 44%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (8.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (1.5%).
35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 68% 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
Unpaid carers make up 7.9%, close to the figure across England’s towns. For 643 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 66% of UK towns. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Haverhill, 22%, and 22% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 29 in Kedington, Hundon & Withersfield to 41 in Haverhill North
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Haverhill North is the oldest area, with 19% aged 65 or over; Kedington, Hundon & Withersfield the youngest (median age 29). Families with children are most common in Kedington, Hundon & Withersfield (41% of households).
Among 247 UK towns of 19,000 to 36,000 people, the 40th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Haverhill in age: Wednesbury (39.1), Goole (39.2), Horley (39.2) and Hyde (39.3).
A younger town than 6 of the 7 around it: Haverhill
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haverhill | 26,704 | — | 39.2 | 16% | 32% |
| Kedington | 1,778 | 2.5 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 30% |
| Steeple Bumpstead | 1,376 | 2.8 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 25% |
| Cock and End | 1,346 | 5 mi | 34.9 | 3% | 21% |
| Balsham | 1,625 | 5.9 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Clare | 2,278 | 6.3 mi | 53.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Linton | 4,452 | 6.4 mi | 46.7 | 25% | 28% |
| Great Yeldham | 1,824 | 7.3 mi | 45.6 | 20% | 30% |
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 Haverhill’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. Haverhill’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 26,433 people in 2021, against 26,704 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 Haverhill’s residents
What is the population of Haverhill?
The 2021 Census counted 26,704 people in Haverhill’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 27,600 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Haverhill?
The median age was 39.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Haverhill?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Haverhill?
48% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Haverhill good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Kedington, Hundon & Withersfield (41% of households). Schools are on Haverhill’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.