Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents who describe themselves as White British than 96% of UK towns: 97%
27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. The share of households with dependent children stands at 23%. On households in detached houses, Mendlesham sits higher than 78% of UK towns: 41%. The village’s 469 households held 1,018 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Mendlesham’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 89% of UK towns; 19% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Residents aged 65 and over: 29%, a higher share than 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: nearly one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Half of Mendlesham’s residents are over 47, older than in 69% of UK towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The census found that 9.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 97% of UK towns: 3.3%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for just over a third of Mendlesham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 24%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Mendlesham households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 84% 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.
Against a figure of 30% across England’s towns, the share of one-person households in Mendlesham comes in at 31%. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in just over half of UK towns.
In Mendlesham, 7.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 67% of UK towns
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
Here 13% of households have no car or van, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. 16% of households live in a terraced house. Households in flats: 23% across England’s towns, for comparison.
In Mendlesham, 100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% 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
Residents born outside the UK: 4.9% here and 18% across England’s towns. 100% of residents have English as their main language.
Above 84% of UK towns: 47% 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: 97% of Mendlesham · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 48%, Mendlesham is behind 59% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Indian (0.1%).
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Mendlesham, more than in 88% 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
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 52% in Mendlesham and 44% across England’s towns. Some 29 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. As a reference point, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Mendlesham’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
A younger town than 6 of the 7 around it: Mendlesham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | — | 47 | 29% | 23% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 3 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 4.2 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 4.3 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Debenham | 2,294 | 4.4 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 27% |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 5.1 mi | 48.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Stowmarket | 21,537 | 5.5 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 5.9 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
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 Mendlesham’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 Mendlesham’s residents
What is the population of Mendlesham?
The 2021 Census counted 1,018 people in Mendlesham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Mendlesham?
The median age was 47 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Mendlesham?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Mendlesham?
47% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 4.2% didn’t answer.
Is Mendlesham good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Mendlesham’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.