Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0A median age of 37.1: Wick is younger than 92% of UK towns
32% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Wick had 13,231 residents in 5,319 households at the 2021 Census. Here, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 87%, fewer than in nearly three quarters of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wick’s people
A town of families
35% of Wick’s 5,319 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 93% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Wick at 10,000 in 2011 and 14,300 in 2024, up 44%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 97% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Wick’s residents are under 37.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 43% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
+44% since 2011, a pace 97% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wick’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,000 people in 2011; 14,300 in 2024.
By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+77%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+25%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2017: 680 more people.
Below 88% of UK towns: 16% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Wick. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The largest age band is 30–34: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wick, 37.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 67% of UK towns: 5.2%
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%.
Just over a quarter of Wick’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: a tenth of the total. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Wick sits above 93% of UK towns for households with dependent children (35%)
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.
At 3.4%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Households here average 2.5 people each.
Wick ranks below 85% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 15%
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, 17% of households have no car or van in Wick. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%. Households in flats account for 19%.
In Wick, 11% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 78% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 13% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. Across Wick, 93% of residents have English as their main language.
49% said they have no religion, more than in 91% 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: 87% of Wick · West Sussex’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (7.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and African (0.5%). As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 85% of UK towns.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 77% of UK towns: 37%
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
Wick sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.4%, about the same as across England’s towns. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 358 residents. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 44% here, fewer than in three quarters of UK towns.
22% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Wick, 22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 20% have no qualification at all (18%).
22nd lowest median age among 406 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Wick in age: Stanwell (36.6), Heckmondwike (36.7), Ince-in-Makerfield (37.3) and Chadwell St Mary (37.4).
Wick is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wick | 13,231 | — | 37.1 | 16% | 35% |
| Littlehampton | 19,060 | 0.8 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 23% |
| Arundel | 3,035 | 2.1 mi | 54.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Yapton | 6,337 | 2.3 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 29% |
| Rustington | 33,885 | 2.6 mi | 56.2 | 37% | 19% |
| Walberton | 1,236 | 3.7 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 24% |
| Barnham | 10,139 | 4.6 mi | 47 | 24% | 28% |
| Bognor Regis | 68,443 | 6.2 mi | 48.3 | 28% | 23% |
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 Wick’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. Wick’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,817 people in 2021, against 13,231 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 Wick’s residents
What is the population of Wick?
The 2021 Census counted 13,231 people in Wick’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,300 people in mid-2024, 44% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wick?
The median age was 37.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 92% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wick?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across West Sussex’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wick?
49% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Wick good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wick’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.