Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Families with children: 33% of households, more than in 88% of UK towns
The share of households in detached houses tops 89% of UK towns: 50%. Lower than in 83% of UK towns: 9.8% of households have no car or van. Kesgrave had 14,947 residents in 6,096 households at the 2021 Census. In Kesgrave, 45% of residents said they have no religion.
What the Census says about Kesgrave’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Kesgrave at 16,000 in 2011 and 16,000 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 85% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Kesgrave changed by ±0% from 2011 to 2024, behind 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Kesgrave’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,000 people in 2011; 16,000 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+21%) and the 30 to 44 least (−25%).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11% in Kesgrave, more than in 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Kesgrave is 44.1, lower than in 53% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. On the census count, 20% of residents are 65 or over. In Halesworth, the oldest of Suffolk’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kesgrave, 44.1. 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 higher share of full-time students than 86% of UK towns, at 6.2%
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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Kesgrave. The wider picture: 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.
A smaller share of one-person households than 79% of UK towns: 26%
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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Kesgrave, 2.4. On shared households of unrelated adults, Kesgrave sits lower than just over half of UK towns: 2.3%. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Kesgrave ranks below 71% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 15%
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
The figure for households in flats is 7.5% in Kesgrave and 23% across England’s towns. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
More residents born outside the UK than 67% of UK towns: 8.4%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.9%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 97%, fewer than in two thirds of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 15% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Kesgrave ranks below 70% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 88%
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: 88% of Kesgrave · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 46%, residents who describe themselves as Christian sit close to the figure across England’s towns. On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (2.4%) and Indian (1.8%).
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 82% of UK towns, at 53%
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
364 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Kesgrave has fewer adults who have never married than three quarters of UK towns, at 29%. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.1%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 32% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 15% hold no qualification (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 18%.
Of 384 UK towns its size (10,000 to 20,000 people), the 189th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Kesgrave in age: Blaydon (44.1), Yeadon (44.1), Corsham (44.1) and Liskeard (44.1).
Kesgrave and its 7 nearest towns: 6 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kesgrave | 14,947 | — | 44.1 | 20% | 33% |
| Martlesham Heath | 2,730 | 1.3 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 18% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 1.7 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
| Grundisburgh | 1,424 | 3.5 mi | 49 | 27% | 28% |
| Ipswich | 151,566 | 3.6 mi | 39 | 17% | 29% |
| Woodbridge | 10,146 | 3.7 mi | 53.3 | 33% | 21% |
| Melton | 1,608 | 4.8 mi | 50.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Kirton | 1,245 | 4.9 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 24% |
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 Kesgrave’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. Kesgrave’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,859 people in 2021, against 14,947 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 Kesgrave’s residents
What is the population of Kesgrave?
The 2021 Census counted 14,947 people in Kesgrave’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,000 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Kesgrave?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 53% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kesgrave?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 8.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kesgrave?
45% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Kesgrave good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Kesgrave’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.