Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer families than 95% of UK towns: 20% of households have children
43% of households are one person living alone (Scotland’s towns: 38%). Banff’s 2,001 households held 3,971 residents at the 2022 Census. Households without a car or van account for 25%. At 58%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in 99% of UK towns.
Older than 76% of UK towns: half of Banff is over 48.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%, against 12% across Scotland’s towns. 25% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 73% of UK towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Banff, 48.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 3.6% of adults are full-time students in Banff
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine work; in Banff, 26% and 35%. The share of full-time students across Scotland’s towns is 9.4%.
Smaller households than 99% of UK towns: 2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Aberdeenshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Where 3.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Scotland’s towns, Banff has 1.2%.
Households in flats make up 20% in Banff, more than in 84% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2022. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
The share of households in detached houses is 25%, against 18% across Scotland’s towns. The usual figure: 39% of households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns. Here, nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 65% of UK towns, at 8.2%
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2022.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, 34% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 11%. 94% of residents have English as their main language.
36% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 97% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2022 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 91% of Banff · Aberdeenshire’s towns 91% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (7.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Pakistani (0.3%). Banff has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than three fifths of UK towns, at 91%. Across Scotland’s towns, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Above 64% of UK towns: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 3 and over), Census 2022.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 3 and over
Compared with 42% across Scotland’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. The share of unpaid carers stands at 11%. Across Scotland’s towns, adults who have never married come to 40%.
23% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Banff’s adults, against 32% across Scotland’s towns; 22% have no qualification (17%).
Among 531 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, the 199th oldest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Milford on Sea the oldest (64.6). Nearest to Banff in age: Chipping Ongar (48.3), Llantrisant (48.3), Mytholmroyd (48.4) and Hemingford Grey (48.4).
Every nearby town is younger than Banff
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Aberdeenshire’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Aberdeenshire (or Scotland), summed the same way as Banff’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. National Records of Scotland adjusts small 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 Banff’s residents
What is the population of Banff?
The 2022 Census counted 3,971 people in Banff’s locality.
What is the average age in Banff?
The median age was 48.3 at the 2022 Census, older than 76% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Banff?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 91% across Aberdeenshire’s towns. 8.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Banff?
58% said they had no religion and 36% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Banff good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Banff’s schools page.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality (UV101b, UV103, UV104, UV113, UV201, UV204b, UV205, UV212, UV301, UV402, UV405, UV406, UV501, UV607, UV801). 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.