Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.2: Thorndon is older than 92% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Thorndon has 5.6%. In 2021, the Census found 727 residents locally, living in 304 households. Here, 1.3% of households live in a flat or apartment. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 18%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of UK towns: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: just over one in ten residents, 2.3 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9.5%, fewer than in three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
More residents who moved in within the year than 94% of UK towns: 13%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Thorndon, 41% and 15%. Compared with other places, full-time students are common here: 5.4%, more than in 73% of UK towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Thorndon ranks below 77% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 24%
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 4.3%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 29% across England’s towns. Each household has 2.4 people on average.
Thorndon: 71% of households live in a detached house, above 99% 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
5% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). For households in detached houses, the comparison across England’s towns is 21%.
100% of residents have English as their main language, a share 99% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%), then in EU countries (1%). 3.7% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 81% of UK towns. To put it in context, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 82% 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 Thorndon · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Nearly two in five residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as Christian at 55% in Thorndon.
In Thorndon, 61% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
Here just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across England’s towns is 8.7%. Adults who have never married: a quarter of the total. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
A degree-level qualification for 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 31% of Thorndon’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification (18%).
Thorndon is younger than 4 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorndon | 727 | — | 52.2 | 31% | 24% |
| Eye | 2,211 | 3 mi | 52.4 | 33% | 21% |
| Mendlesham | 1,018 | 3.3 mi | 47 | 29% | 23% |
| Debenham | 2,294 | 4.2 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 27% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 4.4 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 5.3 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Scole | 1,037 | 6 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Stradbroke | 1,190 | 6.3 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Thorndon’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 Thorndon’s residents
What is the population of Thorndon?
The 2021 Census counted 727 people in Thorndon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thorndon?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thorndon?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thorndon?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Thorndon good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thorndon’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.