Photo: David Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Woodbridge is over 53.3, older than 94% of UK towns
37% of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. Across Woodbridge, 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. More households in flats than in nearly three quarters of UK towns: 16%. The town’s 4,881 households held 10,146 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Woodbridge’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Woodbridge’s residents are under 53.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Woodbridge at 9,700 in 2011 and 9,600 in 2024, down 2%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 91% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Woodbridge’s population moved −2% on 2011, less than in 91% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Woodbridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 9,700 people in 2011; 9,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+22%); the 0 to 15 group moved least (−19%).
Woodbridge ranks above 95% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 33%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Woodbridge has 9.1%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Woodbridge, 53.3. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
4.5% of adults are full-time students, below 64% 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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 12%, against 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Woodbridge ranks below 93% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 21%
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.
The average household has 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%.
Households in detached houses: 33%, a higher share than 60% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Woodbridge comes in at 16%. To put it in context, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 66% of UK towns.
Woodbridge: 98% of residents have English as their main language, above 67% 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
Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 12%. The share of residents born outside the UK stands at 7.4%. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents with no religion make up 43% in Woodbridge, more than in 61% 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 Woodbridge · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Indian (0.3%). Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Lower than in 51% of UK towns: 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian. In Woodbridge, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns.
Woodbridge ranks below 83% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 27%
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: 236. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 53% of UK towns. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. At 9.4%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 41% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 14% hold no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 24th oldest of 455 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.8 in Stoke Gifford to 61 in Seaton. Nearest to Woodbridge in age: Haxby (52.7), Caister-on-Sea (53.2), Bewdley (53.5) and Pickering (53.8).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Woodbridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge | 10,146 | — | 53.3 | 33% | 21% |
| Melton | 1,608 | 1.1 mi | 50.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Martlesham | 1,976 | 2.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 28% |
| Martlesham Heath | 2,730 | 2.8 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 18% |
| Grundisburgh | 1,424 | 2.9 mi | 49 | 27% | 28% |
| Sutton Common | 1,262 | 3.2 mi | 29 | 12% | 43% |
| Kesgrave | 14,947 | 3.7 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 33% |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 4.7 mi | 52 | 33% | 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 Woodbridge’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. Woodbridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,463 people in 2021, against 10,146 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 Woodbridge’s residents
What is the population of Woodbridge?
The 2021 Census counted 10,146 people in Woodbridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,600 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Woodbridge?
The median age was 53.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 94% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Woodbridge?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Woodbridge?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Woodbridge good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Woodbridge’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. 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.