Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns, at 0.7%
7.8% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Few places have so few one-person households: 25% here, fewer than in 85% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 976 residents in 418 households. Households with dependent children: 23% of the total.
Older than 90% of UK towns: half of Palgrave is over 51.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 8.9% of residents, against 12% across England’s towns. On the census count, 30% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.1%
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, just over a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 11%.
Smaller households than 56% of UK towns: 2.3 people on average
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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, Palgrave sits higher than 53% of UK towns: 2.4%.
A larger share of households in detached houses than 94% of UK towns: 57%
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
In Palgrave, 11% of households live in a terraced house, beside 24% across England’s towns. By contrast, 0.7% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 57% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 72% of UK towns don’t reach
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 67% of UK towns: 52%
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: 94% of Palgrave · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British in Palgrave. The share of residents with no religion stands at 40%. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 77% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Some 20 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. On adults who have never married, Palgrave sits lower than just over three quarters of UK towns: 29%. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 9.1%, from the figure across England’s towns.
30% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Palgrave’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 30% have one at degree level (34%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Palgrave, 4 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palgrave | 976 | — | 51.3 | 30% | 23% |
| Diss | 9,599 | 0.9 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) | 1,117 | 1.4 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 2.2 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 3.3 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Dickleburgh | 1,166 | 4.1 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 33% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 4.7 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 5.1 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
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 Palgrave’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 Palgrave’s residents
What is the population of Palgrave?
The 2021 Census counted 976 people in Palgrave’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Palgrave?
The median age was 51.3 at the 2021 Census. 8.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Palgrave?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Palgrave?
40% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Palgrave good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Palgrave’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.