Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0No religion: 59% of residents, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Households in flats: 23% here and 39% across Scotland’s towns. The 2022 Census counted 11,164 residents in 5,124 households. The share of one-person households stands at 35%. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 97% of UK towns.
Older than 70% of UK towns: half of Stonehaven is over 47.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
Here one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 12%. Residents aged 65 and over account for 23%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stonehaven, 47.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
5.8% of adults are full-time students, more than in 81% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
41% of Stonehaven’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. On average, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Stonehaven households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 88% 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.
In Stonehaven, a quarter of households have dependent children, beside 24% across Scotland’s towns.
Only 16% of households live in a terraced house in Stonehaven
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
Against a figure of 18% across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in detached houses in Stonehaven comes in at 33%. What’s more, households without a car or van are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. The benchmark for households in terraced houses across Scotland’s towns: 19%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 6% in Stonehaven, less than in 53% 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
17% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 11% across Scotland’s towns.
34% of residents 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: 94% of Stonehaven · Aberdeenshire’s towns 91% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.3%). Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 39%. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 64% of UK towns: 94%.
Stonehaven sits below 76% of UK towns for adults who have never married (29%)
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
One in ten residents give unpaid care, against 12% across Scotland’s towns. Across Stonehaven, just over half of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 40% across Scotland’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 37% of adults in Stonehaven, 32% across Scotland’s towns; 13% have no qualification, against 17%.
96th oldest of 398 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Stonehaven in age: Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne (47.1), Bradwell (47.2), Hetton-le-Hole (47.3) and Sandbach (47.3).
Every nearby town is younger than Stonehaven
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonehaven | 11,164 | — | 47.2 | 23% | 25% |
| Newtonhill | 3,182 | 5.3 mi | 43.5 | 19% | 32% |
| Portlethen | 8,965 | 7.4 mi | 40.3 | 14% | 34% |
| Peterculter | 4,359 | 9.4 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 23% |
| Milltimber | 3,049 | 9.8 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 36% |
| Cove Bay | 7,926 | 10.5 mi | 40.6 | 15% | 27% |
| Banchory | 7,582 | 11.9 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in term time. 20 March 2022 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Aberdeenshire’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Aberdeenshire (or Scotland), summed the same way as Stonehaven’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 Stonehaven’s residents
What is the population of Stonehaven?
The 2022 Census counted 11,164 people in Stonehaven’s locality.
What is the average age in Stonehaven?
The median age was 47.2 at the 2022 Census, older than 70% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stonehaven?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 91% across Aberdeenshire’s towns. 6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stonehaven?
59% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Stonehaven good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Stonehaven’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.