Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53: Wattisfield is older than 94% of UK towns
Here 11% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Wattisfield’s 220 households held 501 residents at the 2021 Census. For Wattisfield, the census puts households in detached houses at 62%. Fewer adults who have never married than in 88% of UK towns: 26%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 89% of UK towns: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with just over one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 85% of UK 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
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 58% of UK towns: 4.6% of adults are full-time students
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 or semi-routine work; Wattisfield has 33% and 22%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 10% in the village.
Fewer families than 95% of UK towns: 20% of households have children
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.
5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across England’s towns. On one-person households, Wattisfield sits lower than 53% of UK towns: 30%. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Households here average 2.3 people each.
Only 0.5% of households live in a flat or apartment in Wattisfield
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%). As a reference point, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, against 5.2% in Wattisfield. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%.
Wattisfield ranks above 74% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 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 Wattisfield · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 53%, Wattisfield is ahead of 72% of UK towns on that count. By contrast, on residents with no religion, Wattisfield sits lower than 63% of UK towns: 39%. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.2%).
56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 91% 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: 12. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 28%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Wattisfield, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 20% have no qualification at all (18%).
Around Wattisfield, 1 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wattisfield | 501 | — | 53 | 29% | 20% |
| Walsham le Willows | 1,258 | 1.9 mi | 49 | 25% | 25% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale | 1,842 | 2.4 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Stanton | 2,316 | 2.8 mi | 44.3 | 22% | 28% |
| Gislingham | 1,172 | 4.3 mi | 50.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Ixworth | 2,296 | 5.3 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 26% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 5.3 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 6.5 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
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 Wattisfield’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 Wattisfield’s residents
What is the population of Wattisfield?
The 2021 Census counted 501 people in Wattisfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wattisfield?
The median age was 53 at the 2021 Census. 8.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wattisfield?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 5.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wattisfield?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Wattisfield good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wattisfield’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.