Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Needham Market ranks below 97% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 19%
People aged 65 and over make up 28% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 5,055 residents in 2,481 households. Census figures put one-person households at 38% in Needham Market. 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, a higher share than in 74% of UK towns.
+10% since 2011, a pace 60% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Needham Market’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,500 people in 2011; 5,000 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 110 people. Change by age ran from +27% for the 65 and over to −12% for the 16 to 29.
Needham Market is older than 84% of UK towns: a median age of 50
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 7.8% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Across Needham Market, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Needham Market, 50. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Needham Market ranks below 92% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.7%
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%.
By class, 32% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Needham Market households average 2 people, smaller than in 97% 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.
1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%.
17% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 75% of UK towns don’t reach
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 18% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Against that, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. 16% of households have no car or van. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
Needham Market sits above 72% of UK towns for 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%). Needham Market has fewer residents born outside the UK than 64% of UK towns, at 5%. Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 7.9% (England’s towns: 21%).
Above 77% of UK towns: 45% 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: 95% of Needham Market · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Chinese (0.1%). At 48%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%.
Needham Market sits below 59% of UK towns for adults who have never married (31%)
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
132 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 45%, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.4%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Needham Market’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%).
102nd highest median age among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000
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 Needham Market in age: Hoylake (50), Branston (50), Somerton (50) and Henfield (50).
Needham Market sits below 1 of its 7 closest neighbours on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needham Market | 5,055 | — | 50 | 28% | 19% |
| Stowmarket | 21,537 | 3.2 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 3.3 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 3.6 mi | 31.9 | 8.7% | 35% |
| Great Bricett | 1,518 | 4.1 mi | 28.2 | 8.8% | 40% |
| Claydon | 3,140 | 4.2 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 26% |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 5.6 mi | 48.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Elmsett | 1,001 | 5.7 mi | 54 | 32% | 23% |
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 Needham Market’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Needham Market’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,720 people in 2021, against 5,055 in the built-up area.
- 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 Needham Market’s residents
What is the population of Needham Market?
The 2021 Census counted 5,055 people in Needham Market’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,000 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Needham Market?
The median age was 50 at the 2021 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Needham Market?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Needham Market?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Needham Market good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Needham Market’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.