Photo: Lukedmartib88 · CC BY-SA 4.0Only 16% of households are one person living alone in Mellis
In Mellis, 5.3% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. More households in detached houses than in 93% of UK towns: 54%. The village had 563 residents and 207 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 50.8. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 97%.
Half of Mellis is over 50.8, older than 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). Residents aged 15 to 24: just over a tenth of the total.
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.
6.3% of adults are full-time students, more than in 87% 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%.
The figure for residents who moved in within the year is 12% in Mellis and 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Mellis households average 2.6 people, larger than in 95% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 4.4%. On the census count, 29% of households have dependent children.
Fewer flats than 91% of UK towns: 3.4% of households
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
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Mellis has 17%. For households in flats, the comparison across England’s towns is 23%.
In Mellis, 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 98% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%) and in EU countries (0.9%). Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. On residents born outside the UK, Mellis sits lower than 86% of UK towns: 3.4%.
Mellis ranks above 63% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 43%
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: 97% of Mellis · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 50%. Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion.
In Mellis, 26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 90% 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
Some 9 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Typically, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 53% here, more than in 80% of UK towns. At the same time, with unpaid carers at 6.3%, Mellis is behind 98% of UK towns on that count.
35% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 35% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 16% hold no qualification (18%). The highest qualification of 17% is A levels, often students still at university.
Median age: 5 of the 7 towns around Mellis 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mellis | 563 | — | 50.8 | 26% | 29% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 2.4 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 2.8 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 3.4 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) | 1,117 | 3.7 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Diss | 9,599 | 3.7 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 4.2 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 5.2 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
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 Mellis’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 Mellis’s residents
What is the population of Mellis?
The 2021 Census counted 563 people in Mellis’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Mellis?
The median age was 50.8 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Mellis?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Mellis?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Mellis good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Mellis’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.