Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 57.8: Defford is older than 98% of UK towns
5.4% of households have no car or van; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. Defford is home to 607 residents in 280 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, 18% of households have dependent children. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Defford sits higher than 97% of UK towns: 63%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 36% in Defford, more than in 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 5.9%, against 12% across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 99% of UK towns: 2.1% 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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Defford has 10%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
1.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, below 94% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Worcestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
In Defford the average household is 2.2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. What’s more, 26% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 82% of UK towns. For shared households of unrelated adults, the comparison across England’s towns is 4.3%.
Households in flats make up 0.7% in Defford, less than in 99% of UK towns
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
Households in detached houses: 63% here and 21% across England’s towns. The census found that 8.6% of households live in a terraced house in Defford. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Above 99% of UK towns: 100% of residents have English as their main language
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 Africa (1.8%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%). 3.8% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 80% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns.
30% of residents said they have no religion, below 94% 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 Defford · Worcestershire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British here. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.5%). Residents with no religion: 37% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Only 19% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Defford
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
Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; in Defford, 63%. For Defford, the census puts unpaid carers at 11%. Measured more widely, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 41% of adults in Defford (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 13% (England’s towns: 18%).
Every neighbour of Defford has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defford | 607 | — | 57.8 | 36% | 18% |
| Eckington | 1,256 | 1.2 mi | 55.8 | 34% | 21% |
| Pershore | 8,207 | 2.4 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 23% |
| Drakes Broughton | 1,813 | 3.4 mi | 46 | 22% | 31% |
| Twyning | 1,079 | 4 mi | 51.8 | 29% | 25% |
| Bredon | 2,071 | 4 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 26% |
| Upton upon Severn | 2,403 | 4.5 mi | 54.1 | 31% | 16% |
| Kempsey | 3,753 | 5.4 mi | 45.2 | 25% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Worcestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Worcestershire (or England), summed the same way as Defford’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 Defford’s residents
What is the population of Defford?
The 2021 Census counted 607 people in Defford’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Defford?
The median age was 57.8 at the 2021 Census. 5.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Defford?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Worcestershire’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Defford?
30% said they had no religion and 63% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Defford good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Defford’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.