Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Sudbury sits above 90% of UK towns for residents with no religion (49%)
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 31% of households live in a terraced house here. Sudbury’s 10,536 households held 23,922 residents at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households with dependent children at 25% locally. On households in flats, Sudbury sits higher than 66% of UK towns: 14%.
What the Census says about Sudbury’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 43% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
A +10% change since 2011: faster than 60% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sudbury’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 22,000 people in 2011; 24,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+28%) and the 0 to 15 least (−2%). In one year, mid-2016 to mid-2017, the population rose by 270, the most of any year.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 59% of UK towns, at 23%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.5% of residents. With a median age of 44.9, Sudbury is older than 53% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sudbury, 44.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Fewer full-time students than 58% of UK towns: 4.6%
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%.
By class, 28% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year account for 9.7%. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Sudbury households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 63% 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.
Here nearly a third of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. Across Sudbury, 2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 67% of UK towns, at 19%
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: 24%, below 65% of UK towns. In one household in 5 there is no car or van.
A lower share of residents whose main language is English than 60% of UK towns, at 97%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%. Few places have as many residents born outside the UK: 6.7% here, more than in 53% of UK towns. Since 2017: just over a tenth of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
43% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 85% of UK towns
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: 92% of Sudbury · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (4.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.3%). Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. At 92%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is lower than in 51% of UK towns.
Above 62% of UK towns: 34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
Unpaid carers: 8.7%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For 664 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Lower than in three quarters of UK towns: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
23% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Sudbury’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 23% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 41 in Great Cornard to 48 in North Sudbury & Long Melford
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.
North Sudbury & Long Melford is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Great Cornard the youngest (median age 41). Families with children are most common in Great Cornard (31% of households).
Among 248 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people, the 81st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 55.6 in Brixham. Nearest to Sudbury in age: Dereham (44.7), Stamford (44.8), Dorking (44.9) and Ossett (45).
Sudbury is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudbury | 23,922 | — | 44.9 | 23% | 25% |
| Great Waldingfield | 1,377 | 2.1 mi | 51.1 | 30% | 27% |
| Acton | 1,666 | 2.3 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 27% |
| Long Melford | 3,895 | 2.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 19% |
| Bures | 1,183 | 4.7 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 25% |
| Glemsford | 3,693 | 5.3 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 25% |
| Lavenham | 1,224 | 5.4 mi | 61.6 | 42% | 11% |
| Castle Hedingham | 1,045 | 6.9 mi | 52.9 | 32% | 21% |
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 Sudbury’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. Sudbury’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,574 people in 2021, against 23,922 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 Sudbury’s residents
What is the population of Sudbury?
The 2021 Census counted 23,922 people in Sudbury’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,200 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sudbury?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 53% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sudbury?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 6.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sudbury?
49% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Sudbury good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Great Cornard (31% of households). Schools are on Sudbury’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.