Mostly settled people well into the second half of life. Two-thirds own their home. The typical resident is nearly sixty. Families with children are rare. The village has done its school runs and packed away the car seats.
Every figure on this page comes from the 2021 Census. About 67% of Icklesham's 560 households own their home, about 22% rent from a social landlord and only about 10% rent privately. Social renting is more common here than you'd guess from the lanes, and it's twice the size of the private rental market. The buy-to-let crowd hasn't found this place, or found it and bought a holiday let instead.
The typical resident is 58, and only about 15% of residents are aged 25 to 44, the years when people usually buy a first home and start a family. The village has plenty of people who have already done both, and very few who are about to.
Typical household income for the wider area was about £45,700 before tax in the financial year to March 2023, modelled by the Office for National Statistics. That describes three years ago rather than today, and it's a gross figure spread across a wider area than the village. It also counts pensions alongside wages, and in a place with this age profile that matters.
About 36% of households are one person living alone. Most of those, 27% of all households, are pensioners living on their own. Couples with dependent children make up about 11% of households and lone parents about 7%. The village has more quiet houses than noisy ones, and the neighbours will know when a bin is missed.
On qualifications, about 29% of residents hold a degree or equivalent and about 22% have no formal qualifications. That split reflects a village where retired graduates who moved in live alongside families who have been here for generations and never needed a certificate to prove they knew the land. Full-time students make up about 1%, which is what you'd expect in a village with no college and a train most people never take.
Only 1 resident lives in communal accommodation rather than a private household, so the shares above describe ordinary homes.
Icklesham is settled and home-owning but thin on young households, with many people living alone, and as a community it sits below average. A village this old needs young families to keep it going, and it doesn't have many.