Photo: Glitterandtrauma · CC BY 2.0Above 99% of UK towns: 58% of residents said they have no religion
In Peterhead, 28% of households live in a flat or apartment, beside 39% across Scotland’s towns. The town had 19,793 residents and 9,233 households at the 2022 Census, with a median age of 41.9 (younger than 70% of UK towns). Households without a car or van: 27% of the total. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 88% of UK towns: 1.6%.
Half of Peterhead is under 41.9, younger than 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 10%, above 72% of UK towns. 19% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 68% of UK towns. No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Peterhead, 41.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
In Peterhead, 4.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 66% of UK towns
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 or semi-routine work; Peterhead has 22% and 38%. The benchmark for full-time students across Scotland’s towns: 9.4%.
Peterhead households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 93% of UK towns
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.
One-person households: 39%, above 98% of UK towns. On households with dependent children, Peterhead sits lower than just over three quarters of UK towns: 25%.
Households in terraced houses: 16%, a lower share than 69% 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
Just over a fifth of households live in a detached house, against 18% across Scotland’s towns. Measured more widely, nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house across Scotland’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 92% in Peterhead, less than in 89% of UK towns
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (8.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). At 11%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 79% of UK towns. Residents whose main language is English: 94% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison. Where just over a third of those born abroad across Scotland’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 20%.
34% describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 98% 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: 88% of Peterhead · Aberdeenshire’s towns 91% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Here 88% of residents describe themselves as White British, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 86%. Across Scotland’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 39%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and African (0.3%).
More adults who have never married than 68% of UK towns: 35%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 453 residents. 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. For comparison, two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. Compared with 12% across Scotland’s towns, one in ten residents give unpaid care here.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 18% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 18% of Peterhead’s adults, against 32% across Scotland’s towns; 23% have no qualification (17%).
311 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people: this is the 90th youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Peterhead in age: Uttoxeter (41.9), Bishop's Cleeve (41.9), Stanley (42) and Colne (42).
The places around Peterhead
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peterhead | 19,793 | — | 41.9 | 19% | 25% |
| Mintlaw | 2,832 | 7.6 mi | 46.1 | 25% | 23% |
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 Peterhead’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 Peterhead’s residents
What is the population of Peterhead?
The 2022 Census counted 19,793 people in Peterhead’s locality.
What is the average age in Peterhead?
The median age was 41.9 at the 2022 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Peterhead?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 91% across Aberdeenshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Peterhead?
58% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Peterhead good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Peterhead’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.