Settled homeowners in their middle years, mostly people who have long since stopped moving house. Seven in ten own their home. The typical resident is 50. More than a quarter of households are one person living alone. Commuters and students are rare here. People who stay are not.
All the figures here come from the 2021 census and cover the wider Lydd area, not just the town.
Ownership is the default. About 73% of households own their home. About 16% rent privately and about 11% rent from a council or housing association. The rental market is too small to set the tone, which suits the owners and leaves little choice for anyone who wants to rent here for a year first.
The area is older than the brochures admit. The median resident is 50, and people aged 25 to 44 make up about 19% of the population. The estate agent's "ideal family home" description meets a population where the family moved out a while ago and the spare rooms became hobby rooms.
Income is modest. The Office for National Statistics modelled average household income, before tax, at about £44,000 across the area for the financial year to March 2023. That figure is for three years ago, not today. It sits alongside house prices that are low for the south-east, so a local income here goes further than in most places along the coast.
Households are small and mixed. About 28% are one person living alone, and within that about 15% of all households are a single pensioner. Couples with children make up about 14% and lone parents about 10%. The school gate is quieter than the pension queue, but it's still there.
Qualifications reflect the kind of work the marsh has historically offered. About 19% of residents hold a degree, about 23% have no formal qualifications, and full-time students make up about 1%. The local economy grew up around power stations, Army ranges and shingle, and none of those ever insisted on a graduate intake. The student share is simple to explain: there's nowhere here for a student to study.
The Lydd area is settled and stable, but on the measures of income, qualifications and circumstances it ranks among the weaker communities in the south-east. That's the trade the low prices reflect, and it's a structural fact about the marsh, not a judgement on the people who live here.