Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Woolpit Heath is over 58.8
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Woolpit Heath comes in at 1.9%. Census day 2021: 252 residents and 105 households in the village. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British stands at 96%. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are common here: 3.8%, more than in 90% of UK towns.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns: 40%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
8.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.3%, a lower share than 73% 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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Woolpit Heath has 12%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Below 99% of UK towns: 16% of households have dependent 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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Woolpit Heath, 2.3. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 14% in the village.
A village of detached houses: 83% of households live in one
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 in terraced houses are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. To put it in context, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 93% of UK towns: 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
7.1% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. On average, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (3.2%) and in EU countries (1.6%).
In Woolpit Heath, 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 85% 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: 96% of Woolpit Heath · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Woolpit Heath has 40%. The wider picture: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Caribbean (0.4%).
Woolpit Heath ranks above 99% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 70%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%; Woolpit Heath has 18%. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 10 residents.
35% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
35% of Woolpit Heath’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have none (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Woolpit Heath
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woolpit Heath | 252 | — | 58.8 | 40% | 16% |
| Woolpit | 1,838 | 0.9 mi | 52 | 31% | 21% |
| Elmswell | 4,446 | 1.6 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Haughley | 1,316 | 2.7 mi | 48.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Stowmarket | 21,537 | 4.2 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Stowupland | 2,019 | 4.8 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 24% |
| Thurston | 3,009 | 4.9 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 25% |
| Bacton and Cotton | 1,567 | 5.7 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 19% |
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 Woolpit Heath’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 Woolpit Heath’s residents
What is the population of Woolpit Heath?
The 2021 Census counted 252 people in Woolpit Heath’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Woolpit Heath?
The median age was 58.8 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Woolpit Heath?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 7.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Woolpit Heath?
40% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4% didn’t answer.
Is Woolpit Heath good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Woolpit Heath’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.