Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Newmarket: 40% of households are one person living alone, above 98% of UK towns
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 41% in Newmarket and 44% across England’s towns. There were 9,128 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 18,857 residents. Here, a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment. The median age in the town is 40.2, lower than in 79% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Newmarket’s people
More born abroad than most towns
24% of residents were born outside the UK, against 11% across Suffolk’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (12%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (4.8%). Where people were born ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Slower growth than 61% of UK towns: Newmarket changed by +5% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Newmarket’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 19,500 people in 2011; 20,500 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+19%) and the 16 to 29 least (−16%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2016 to mid-2017, 440 people.
Only 9.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Newmarket
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 18%. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 8.9% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Newmarket, 40.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Newmarket sits below 84% of UK towns for full-time students (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%.
By class, 31% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). At 11%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is higher than in 87% of UK towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 87% of UK towns: 23%
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.
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.4% of the total. Set beside that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
More terraced houses than 78% of UK towns: 28% 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
Households in detached houses make up 21%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Census figures put households without a car or van at 20% in Newmarket. The share of households in terraced houses across England’s towns is 24%.
Newmarket ranks above 96% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 24%
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Of residents born abroad, 31% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Across Newmarket, 88% of residents have English as their main language. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 90% of UK towns: 74%
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: 74% of Newmarket · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
3.5% of residents are Muslim. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. Lower than in 65% of UK towns: 39% of residents said they have no religion. Here 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%.
6.5% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 98% 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
For 323 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 40%, more than in 88% of UK towns. The benchmark for unpaid carers across England’s towns: 8.7%.
29% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 29% of adults in Newmarket (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 20% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 38 in North Newmarket, Studlands & Exning to 50 in Dullingham & Cheveley
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Dullingham & Cheveley is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; North Newmarket, Studlands & Exning the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in North Newmarket, Studlands & Exning (24% of households).
Ranked by age, 47th youngest of 325 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Newmarket in age: Coalville (39.9), Forest Town (40.2), Stowmarket (40.2) and Pyle (40.2).
Newmarket and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Newmarket’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. Newmarket’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,505 people in 2021, against 18,857 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 Newmarket’s residents
What is the population of Newmarket?
The 2021 Census counted 18,857 people in Newmarket’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 20,500 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Newmarket?
The median age was 40.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Newmarket?
74% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 24% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Newmarket?
39% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.5% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Newmarket good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in North Newmarket, Studlands & Exning (24% of households). Schools are on Newmarket’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.