Photo: My another account · Public domainPotterne is older than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 52.5
Households in flats make up 2.1%, against 23% across England’s towns. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 48% here, more than in 88% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 1,543 people lived in Potterne, in 670 households. For Potterne, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 57%.
What the Census says about Potterne’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Potterne’s residents are under 52.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Above 86% of UK towns: 28% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with 9.7% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The census found that one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Potterne.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 95% of UK towns: 3.5% of adults are full-time students
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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year trails 88% of UK towns: 6.8%. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
Households with dependent children make up 21% in Potterne, less than in 92% of UK towns
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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. The census found that 27% of households are one person living alone in Potterne. More shared households of unrelated adults than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 2.7%. To put it in context, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Only 8.9% of households have no car or van in Potterne
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
Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Potterne has 15%. In one household in 11 there is no car or van.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 83% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
4.6% of residents were born outside the UK (England’s towns: 18%). Typically, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.7%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 96%, a higher share than 84% 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 Potterne · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 37%, the share of residents with no religion is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Caribbean (0.2%). Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Adults who have never married: 25%, a lower share than 92% 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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 43 people. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 56%, more than in 90% of UK towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.2%, about the same as across England’s towns.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Potterne’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than Potterne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potterne | 1,543 | — | 52.5 | 28% | 21% |
| Devizes | 19,491 | 2 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 25% |
| Market Lavington | 1,810 | 2.9 mi | 50.1 | 22% | 25% |
| Littleton Panell | 1,334 | 3.2 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 22% |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 4.7 mi | 54.1 | 29% | 18% |
| Bowerhill | 3,976 | 5.5 mi | 45.4 | 20% | 29% |
| Melksham | 18,277 | 6.4 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 28% |
| Berryfield | 1,094 | 6.5 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 26% |
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 Potterne’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 Potterne’s residents
What is the population of Potterne?
The 2021 Census counted 1,543 people in Potterne’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Potterne?
The median age was 52.5 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Potterne?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Potterne?
37% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Potterne good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Potterne’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.