Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 64.5: Southwold is older than 99% of UK towns
With adults who have never married at 22%, Southwold is behind 98% of UK towns on that count. The 2021 Census counted 950 residents in 524 households. Locally, 9.2% of households have dependent children. 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 92% of UK towns.
Above 99% of UK towns: 49% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Southwold, 4.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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 99% of UK towns: 1.6%
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 9.8%, against 11% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
45% of households are one person living alone, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
At 1.8 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. On the census count, 1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Southwold: 31% of households live in a terraced house, above 84% of UK towns
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
The share of households in flats is 21%, against 23% across England’s towns. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Here, 19% of households have no car or van. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 65% of UK towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 81% of UK towns: 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.7%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are common here: 7.1%, more than in 57% of UK towns. The usual figure: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 86% of UK towns, at 34%
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 Southwold · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
94% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.5%). As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
In Southwold, 12% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 96% 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
51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. At 50 hours or more a week, 36 people give unpaid care.
39% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
39% of Southwold’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 18% have none (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Southwold
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwold | 950 | — | 64.5 | 49% | 9.2% |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 0.8 mi | 59.2 | 40% | 17% |
| Kessingland | 4,242 | 6.4 mi | 55 | 34% | 18% |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 7.3 mi | 54 | 35% | 18% |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 8.9 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 24% |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 9.5 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 22% |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 9.6 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 22% |
| Lowestoft | 71,308 | 9.9 mi | 46 | 25% | 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 Southwold’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 Southwold’s residents
What is the population of Southwold?
The 2021 Census counted 950 people in Southwold’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Southwold?
The median age was 64.5 at the 2021 Census. 4.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 49% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Southwold?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 7.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Southwold?
34% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Southwold good for families?
9.2% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Southwold’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.