A median age of 29: Sutton Common is younger than 99% of UK towns
The share of one-person households is 18%, against 30% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,262 residents in 386 households. In Sutton Common, 0.8% of households live in a flat or apartment. Fewer unpaid carers than in 97% of UK towns: 6.8%.
What the Census says about Sutton Common’s people
A village of families
43% of Sutton Common’s 386 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 99% of UK towns. 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Sutton Common’s residents are under 29 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 20% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A village people move to
21% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Sutton Common sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (20%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here just over one in ten residents are 65 or over, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. In Halesworth, the oldest of Suffolk’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
40% women, 60% men
About 67 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
3.6% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 93% of UK towns
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%.
Just over a fifth of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
In Sutton Common, 43% of households have dependent children, more than in 99% 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.
1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Households average 2.6 people.
Only 2.9% of households in Sutton Common live in a detached house
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 without a car or van make up 5%, against 24% across England’s towns. 0.8% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 2.9% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
15% born outside the UK, more than in 86% of UK towns
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (4.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (4.1%). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. At 95%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 79% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 12%.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 81% of UK towns: 84%
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: 84% of Sutton Common · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Sutton Common, 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Meanwhile, residents with no religion are more common here than in 80% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.2%), African (2.2%) and Caribbean (2.1%).
39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 86% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 27. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 49% here, more than in nearly three fifths of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 27%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 27% of its adults qualified to degree level, Sutton Common compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 9.7% hold no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as young as Sutton Common
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton Common | 1,262 | — | 29 | 12% | 43% |
| Melton | 1,608 | 2.9 mi | 50.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Woodbridge | 10,146 | 3.2 mi | 53.3 | 33% | 21% |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 3.4 mi | 40.6 | 17% | 35% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 4.6 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
| Martlesham Heath | 2,730 | 4.9 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 18% |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 5 mi | 52 | 33% | 21% |
| Kirton | 1,245 | 5.9 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 24% |
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 Sutton Common’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 Sutton Common’s residents
What is the population of Sutton Common?
The 2021 Census counted 1,262 people in Sutton Common’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sutton Common?
The median age was 29 at the 2021 Census. 20% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sutton Common?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sutton Common?
46% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Sutton Common good for families?
43% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sutton Common’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.