Photo: Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0In Leiston, 37% of households are one person living alone, more than in 94% of UK towns
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Leiston has 22%. The 2021 Census counted 5,919 residents in 2,796 households. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 25%. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 44% here, fewer than in 75% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Leiston’s people
More with no religion than most
47% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% 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).
Half of Leiston is over 47.2, older than 70% 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 Leiston comes in at 10%. The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Leiston, 47.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 92% of UK towns: 3.7% of adults are full-time students
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 10%, against 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 91% 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.
Leiston has more shared households of unrelated adults than 53% of UK towns, at 2.4%.
More car-free households than 61% of UK towns: 18% in Leiston
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 in detached houses: 21%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. One household in 6 has no car or van. Higher than in 57% of UK towns: 12% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Leiston sits below 65% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (97%)
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%). As a reference point, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 6.2%, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. Nearly a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
In Leiston, 47% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 86% 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: 93% of Leiston · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.5%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than in 78% of UK towns: 45%. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 93% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%.
Leiston sits above 52% of UK towns for adults who have never married (33%)
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
165 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, Leiston sits lower than just over half of UK towns: 9.3%.
Among adults, 21% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Leiston counts 21% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 23% have no qualification (18%).
247th highest median age among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
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 Leiston in age: Haworth (47.2), Lepton (47.2), Coleford (47.2) and Galleywood (47.2).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Leiston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leiston | 5,919 | — | 47.2 | 25% | 22% |
| Aldeburgh | 2,423 | 3.3 mi | 61.9 | 44% | 12% |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 4 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 8.6 mi | 40.6 | 17% | 35% |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 9.7 mi | 52 | 33% | 21% |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 10 mi | 54 | 35% | 18% |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 10 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 27% |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 10.1 mi | 59.2 | 40% | 17% |
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 Leiston’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 Leiston’s residents
What is the population of Leiston?
The 2021 Census counted 5,919 people in Leiston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Leiston?
The median age was 47.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 70% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Leiston?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 6.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Leiston?
47% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Leiston good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Leiston’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.