Photo: Ray Bird · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.5: Lea is older than 93% of UK towns
With households in detached houses at 74%, Lea is ahead of 99% of UK towns on that count. The village has fewer households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns, at 3.9%. Census day 2021: 577 residents and 230 households in the village. Across Lea, 69% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 30%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 9.5% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Higher than in 64% of UK towns: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Lea: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 85% 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%.
4.8% of adults are full-time students (England’s towns: 7.9%). By class, 53% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 11% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%).
Fewer people live alone than in 98% of UK towns: 19% of households
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.
In Lea the average household is 2.5 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Here, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Few places have as many households with dependent children: 30% here, more than in 71% of UK towns.
Fewer households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 3.5%
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
1.3% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. The usual figure: 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Lea sits above 98% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%; Lea has 5.6%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%). Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns.
In Lea, 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 89% 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 Lea · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
38% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. Locally, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%.
Lea sits below 99% of UK towns for adults who have never married (17%)
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
At 8.9%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 13 residents. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 52%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
8% of Lea’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 52% have one at degree level (34%).
Lea is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea | 577 | — | 52.5 | 30% | 30% |
| Malmesbury | 7,184 | 1.8 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 29% |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 5 mi | 47.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Tetbury | 6,454 | 6.1 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 23% |
| Lyneham | 4,645 | 6.3 mi | 25.6 | 5% | 42% |
| Sherston | 1,394 | 6.4 mi | 49 | 25% | 26% |
| Ashton Keynes | 1,425 | 7.2 mi | 51.7 | 28% | 28% |
| Royal Wootton Bassett | 13,002 | 7.5 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 27% |
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 Lea’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 Lea’s residents
What is the population of Lea?
The 2021 Census counted 577 people in Lea’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Lea?
The median age was 52.5 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lea?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lea?
38% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Lea good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lea’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.