Photo: Gareth James · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 85% of UK towns: half of Ipswich is under 39
In Ipswich, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 151,566 people lived locally, in 64,451 households. Locally, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The city has fewer households in detached houses than 79% of UK towns, at 18%.
What the Census says about Ipswich’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Ipswich’s residents are under 39 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. 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.
Slower than most: +4% since 2011, behind 64% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ipswich’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 144,500 people in 2011; 151,000 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+22%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−16%). Between mid-2011 and mid-2012 the population rose by 1,950, its biggest one-year gain.
In Ipswich, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 30–34: 7.6% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 17% here, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Halesworth, the oldest of Suffolk’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ipswich, 39. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A higher share of full-time students than 85% of UK towns, at 6.1%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Ipswich, 29% and 29%. Few places have as many residents who moved in within the year: 9.5% here, more than in 66% of UK towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
32% of households are one person living alone, more than in 67% 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.
Ipswich sits close to the norm on households with dependent children: 29%, about the same as across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 85% of UK towns. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Households average 2.3 people.
Ipswich sits above 89% of UK towns for households in flats (23%)
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
Households without a car or van make up 24%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 22% in Ipswich.
17% born outside the UK, more than in 89% 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
Since 2017: nearly a quarter of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Lower than in 94% of UK towns: 89% of residents have English as their main language. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (9.1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (4.1%).
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 88% of UK towns: 76%
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: 76% of Ipswich · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
3.7% of residents said their religion is Muslim. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion are more common here than in 77% of UK towns.
Ipswich: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 87% 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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 3,738 people. On unpaid carers, Ipswich sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 8.7%.
Qualified to degree level: 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Ipswich counts 27% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 21% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 34 in Westgate to 50 in Bixley, Warren Heath & Nacton
The city’s 18 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bixley, Warren Heath & Nacton is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Westgate the youngest (median age 34). Families with children are most common in Rushmere (35% of households).
Ranked by age, 20th oldest of 49 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Worthing the oldest (44.8). Nearest to Ipswich in age: Swansea (38.9), Telford (39), Stockport (39.1) and Kensington and Chelsea (39.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 6 are older than Ipswich
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ipswich | 151,566 | — | 39 | 17% | 29% |
| Bramford | 2,335 | 3 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 19% |
| Kesgrave | 14,947 | 3.6 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 33% |
| Claydon | 3,140 | 4.1 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 26% |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 4.7 mi | 31.9 | 8.7% | 35% |
| Martlesham Heath | 2,730 | 5 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 18% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 5 mi | 41.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 5.2 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
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 Ipswich’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. Ipswich’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 150,238 people in 2021, against 151,566 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 Ipswich’s residents
What is the population of Ipswich?
The 2021 Census counted 151,566 people in Ipswich’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 151,000 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ipswich?
The median age was 39 at the 2021 Census, younger than 85% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ipswich?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ipswich?
45% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.7% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Ipswich good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Rushmere (35% of households). Schools are on Ipswich’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.