Photo: Donama · CC BY-SA 3.0A town of detached houses: 59% of households live in one
The share of households without a car or van trails 90% of UK towns: 8.3%. Thurston had 3,009 residents and 1,321 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 49.1 (older than four fifths of UK towns). In Thurston, 27% of residents are 65 or over. Fewer adults who have never married than in 91% of UK towns: 25%.
A median age of 49.1: Thurston is older than 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.1% of residents. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 61% of UK towns: 9.4%. In Halesworth, the oldest of Suffolk’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Thurston, 49.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 4% in Thurston, less than in 85% 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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Thurston has 12%. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Below 76% of UK towns: 27% of households are one person living alone
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.
Households with dependent children: 25% here and 29% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.1%.
Thurston sits below 95% of UK towns for households in flats (2.6%)
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 13% of households live in a terraced house in Thurston. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 76% of UK towns, at 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Of residents born abroad, 16% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Lower than in 60% of UK towns: 5.4% of residents were born outside the UK. For comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 54%, a higher share than 76% 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: 94% of Thurston · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Thurston, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns. Residents with no religion: two fifths of the total. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%.
Thurston: 58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 94% 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
Some 86 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On unpaid carers, Thurston sits higher than 59% of UK towns: 9.7%. Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 33% of adults in Thurston, 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification, against 18%.
167th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Thurston in age: Bignall End (49.1), Ash Green (49.1), Kingsclere (49.1) and Kidwelly (49.1).
Thurston and its 7 nearest towns: 3 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurston | 3,009 | — | 49.1 | 27% | 25% |
| Great Barton | 1,848 | 2 mi | 54.2 | 35% | 23% |
| Ixworth | 2,296 | 3.4 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 26% |
| Woolpit | 1,838 | 4 mi | 52 | 31% | 21% |
| Bury St Edmunds | 41,279 | 4.1 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 23% |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 4.6 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Stanton | 2,316 | 6 mi | 44.3 | 22% | 28% |
| Walsham le Willows | 1,258 | 6.6 mi | 49 | 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 Thurston’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 Thurston’s residents
What is the population of Thurston?
The 2021 Census counted 3,009 people in Thurston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thurston?
The median age was 49.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 80% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thurston?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thurston?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Thurston good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thurston’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.