Photo: James Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0Devizes sits above 79% of UK towns for one-person households (34%)
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Devizes, 25%. On the census count, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house. Higher than in 85% of UK towns: 21% of households live in a flat or apartment. At the 2021 Census Devizes was home to 19,491 people in 8,914 households.
A growing town: +8% since 2011, faster than 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Devizes’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 18,100 people in 2011; 19,500 in 2024.
Mid-2011 to mid-2012 brought the biggest yearly rise, 430 people. Change by age ran from +37% for the 65 and over to −10% for the 0 to 15.
Devizes is older than 62% of UK towns: a median age of 46.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; in Devizes, 9.7%. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 23% here, more than in nearly three fifths of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Devizes, 46.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 89% of UK towns, at 3.8%
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%.
11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 10% in Devizes. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Smaller households than 81% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Wiltshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.4%.
Devizes sits above 67% of UK towns for households without a car or van (19%)
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
With households in terraced houses at 26%, Devizes is ahead of 72% of UK towns on that count. Against that, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 66% of UK towns, at 8.3%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (4.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Devizes has fewer residents whose main language is English than just over three fifths of UK towns, at 97%. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Since 2017: 14% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
42% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 59% 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 Devizes · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.3%). More residents who describe themselves as Christian than in 55% of UK towns: 50%. On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Devizes, 92%.
Married adults and civil partners: 47%, a lower share than 58% 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: 516. Nearly a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 9.5%, from the figure across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Devizes’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 16% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 39 in Market Lavington & Bishops Cannings to 53 in Devizes West
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Devizes West is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Market Lavington & Bishops Cannings the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Market Lavington & Bishops Cannings (34% of households).
80th oldest of 295 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 57.2 in South Hayling. Nearest to Devizes in age: Nantwich (46.1), Stone (46.1), Penrith (46.2) and Maldon (46.2).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 3 are older than Devizes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devizes | 19,491 | — | 46.1 | 23% | 25% |
| Potterne | 1,543 | 2 mi | 52.5 | 28% | 21% |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 3.7 mi | 54.1 | 29% | 18% |
| Market Lavington | 1,810 | 4.5 mi | 50.1 | 22% | 25% |
| Littleton Panell | 1,334 | 5 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 22% |
| Bowerhill | 3,976 | 5.9 mi | 45.4 | 20% | 29% |
| Calne | 19,725 | 6.1 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Melksham | 18,277 | 6.4 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Wiltshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Wiltshire (or England), summed the same way as Devizes’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. Devizes’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,021 people in 2021, against 19,491 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 Devizes’s residents
What is the population of Devizes?
The 2021 Census counted 19,491 people in Devizes’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,500 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Devizes?
The median age was 46.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 62% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Devizes?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 8.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Devizes?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Devizes good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Market Lavington & Bishops Cannings (34% of households). Schools are on Devizes’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.