Photo: Antiquary · CC BY 4.0Fewer households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 2.6%
Where 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, Sayers Common has 56%. 33% of households have dependent children, more than in 86% of UK towns. There were 350 households in the village at the 2021 Census, home to 869 residents. In Sayers Common, 4.3% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Half of Sayers Common is over 46.6, older than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. The census found that just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Sayers Common.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of full-time students than 90% of UK towns: 6.7%
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Sayers Common, 40% and 16%. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 21% of households in Sayers Common are one person living alone
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Sussex’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.3% of the total.
A village of detached houses: 44% 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
Here nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. 4.3% of households live in a flat, less than in 86% of UK towns; 44% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 63% of UK towns: 7.8%
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.3%) and in Africa (1.5%). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Sayers Common comes in at 98%.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 63% of UK towns: 90%
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: 90% of Sayers Common · West Sussex’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Sayers Common has 43%. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (6.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Indian (0.5%).
A lower share of adults who have never married than 71% of UK towns, at 29%
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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8%, from the figure across England’s towns. The wider picture: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For 15 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 35% of adults in Sayers Common (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 11% (England’s towns: 18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 21%.
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Sayers Common 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sayers Common | 869 | — | 46.6 | 19% | 33% |
| Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint | 14,216 | 2.5 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 32% |
| Burgess Hill | 33,352 | 2.9 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 30% |
| Henfield | 5,630 | 3.5 mi | 50 | 29% | 25% |
| Ditchling | 1,123 | 4.1 mi | 52.8 | 32% | 23% |
| Cowfold | 1,377 | 4.2 mi | 44.2 | 18% | 28% |
| Partridge Green | 1,911 | 4.7 mi | 48.5 | 23% | 27% |
| Cuckfield | 3,767 | 4.9 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 33% |
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.
- “West Sussex’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Sussex (or England), summed the same way as Sayers Common’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 Sayers Common’s residents
What is the population of Sayers Common?
The 2021 Census counted 869 people in Sayers Common’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sayers Common?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sayers Common?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across West Sussex’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sayers Common?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Sayers Common good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sayers Common’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.