Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.9: Nacton is older than 95% of UK towns
Married people and civil partners make up 65% of adults, against 44% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census put Nacton’s population at 459, in 196 households. Households in detached houses account for 63%. 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 90% of UK towns.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of UK towns: 6.3%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
60–64 is the most common age band: 10% of residents, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 28%, more than in 86% of UK towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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 93% of UK towns: 3.6%
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 take in 47% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 16% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students. Here, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Only 22% of households have dependent children in Nacton
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.
The share of one-person households is 24%, against 30% across England’s towns. Typically, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The census found that 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Nacton.
Only 1.5% of households have no car or van in Nacton
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 6.6% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%.
Nacton ranks above 96% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in Africa (2.4%). 7.2% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 58% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%.
Nacton: 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 89% 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: 92% of Nacton · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (2.8%) and Indian (0.4%). On residents with no religion, Nacton sits lower than four fifths of UK towns: 36%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns.
In Nacton, 19% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 99% 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 unpaid carers is 7% in Nacton and 8.7% across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 8. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns.
46% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 46% of its adults qualified to degree level, Nacton compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 15% hold no qualification (18%).
Around Nacton, 1 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nacton | 459 | — | 53.9 | 28% | 22% |
| Kesgrave | 14,947 | 3 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 33% |
| Martlesham Heath | 2,730 | 3.5 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 18% |
| Kirton | 1,245 | 3.6 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 24% |
| Trimley St Martin | 1,725 | 3.7 mi | 45.9 | 21% | 24% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 4.1 mi | 41.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 4.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
| Ipswich | 151,566 | 4.2 mi | 39 | 17% | 29% |
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 Nacton’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 Nacton’s residents
What is the population of Nacton?
The 2021 Census counted 459 people in Nacton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Nacton?
The median age was 53.9 at the 2021 Census. 6.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Nacton?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 7.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Nacton?
36% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Nacton good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Nacton’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.