Photo: Mike Snoswell · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.4: Otley is older than 94% of UK towns
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 19% of households are one person living alone in Otley. Census day 2021: 711 residents and 293 households locally. Across Otley, 1.4% of households live in a terraced house. Lower than in 98% of UK towns: 5.5% of households have no car or van.
Otley sits above 92% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (31%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.7%, Otley is behind 54% of UK towns on that count. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Otley sits below 78% of UK towns for full-time students (4.2%)
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 44% of Otley’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 16%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 13% of residents had moved in within the year before the Census, more than the 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Below 84% of UK towns: 23% of households have dependent children
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.1%, above 78% of UK towns. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Only 0.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in Otley
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Otley has 68%. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 95% of UK towns, at 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
The share of residents born outside the UK is 4.1%, against 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 79% of UK towns: 95%
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 Otley · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, against 43% in Otley. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. For Otley, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 51%.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 99% of UK towns: 62%
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 share of adults who have never married is 23%, against 39% across England’s towns. Here, one in ten residents give unpaid care. Against that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 38% of its adults qualified to degree level, Otley compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 13% hold no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Otley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otley | 711 | — | 53.4 | 31% | 23% |
| Grundisburgh | 1,424 | 3.1 mi | 49 | 27% | 28% |
| Debenham | 2,294 | 5.3 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 27% |
| Claydon | 3,140 | 5.4 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 26% |
| Melton | 1,608 | 5.5 mi | 50.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Woodbridge | 10,146 | 5.6 mi | 53.3 | 33% | 21% |
| Great Blakenham | 2,188 | 5.9 mi | 31.9 | 8.7% | 35% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 6.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
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 Otley’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 Otley’s residents
What is the population of Otley?
The 2021 Census counted 711 people in Otley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Otley?
The median age was 53.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Otley?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Otley?
43% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Otley good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Otley’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.