Photo: Adrian Cable · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Metfield is over 57.5, older than 98% of UK towns
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 381 residents and 182 households in Metfield. The share of households without a car or van stands at 6.5%. By its share of households in detached houses (59%), Metfield is above 96% of UK towns.
37% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 5.5% in Metfield. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2.4%
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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, 5.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Households with dependent children: 15%, a lower share than 99% 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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Metfield, 2.1. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. 30% of households are one person living alone.
Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.5% 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
15% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 93% of UK towns: 99%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language. Lower than in 71% of UK towns: 4.5% of residents were born outside the UK.
A higher White British share than 97% of UK towns: 97% of residents
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 Metfield · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (38%), Metfield is below two thirds of UK towns. 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 82% of UK towns. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Metfield sits below 99% of UK towns for adults who have never married (18%)
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
Here one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners account for 62%.
35% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
35% of Metfield’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Metfield
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metfield | 381 | — | 57.5 | 37% | 15% |
| Harleston | 5,077 | 3.5 mi | 47.6 | 29% | 24% |
| Laxfield | 1,004 | 5 mi | 52.3 | 28% | 19% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 5.5 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 6.1 mi | 54 | 35% | 18% |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 6.3 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 23% |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 7.5 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 19% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 7.8 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
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 Metfield’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 Metfield’s residents
What is the population of Metfield?
The 2021 Census counted 381 people in Metfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Metfield?
The median age was 57.5 at the 2021 Census. 5.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Metfield?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Metfield?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Metfield good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Metfield’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.