Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.014% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% of towns in England and Wales
Compared with 2.8% across Northern Ireland’s towns, 1.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Comber has fewer households with dependent children than 69% of towns in England and Wales, at 25%. At the 2021 Census Comber was home to 9,529 people in 4,272 households.
Comber is older than 62% of towns in England and Wales: a median age of 46.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across Northern Ireland’s towns, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. 55–59 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Comber, 46.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A higher share of full-time students than 62% of towns in England and Wales, at 5.1%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Across Northern Ireland’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Comber has 32% and 25%. The share of full-time students across Northern Ireland’s towns is 8.3%. Here, 9.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 74% of towns in England and Wales: 2.2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Ards and North Down’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
People per household
Northern Ireland’s towns.
Nearly a third of households are one person living alone, against 34% across Northern Ireland’s towns.
23% of households live in a terraced house, a share 63% of towns in England and Wales don’t reach
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Where 25% of households have no car or van across Northern Ireland’s towns, Comber has 14%. As a reference point, 29% of households live in a terraced house across Northern Ireland’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 9.6%. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 30% here, more than in just over half of towns in England and Wales.
Residents born outside the UK: 5.1%, a lower share than 64% of towns in England and Wales
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Across Northern Ireland’s towns, one in ten residents were born outside the UK. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 98%, more than in 50% of towns in England and Wales.
Above 99% of towns in England and Wales: 70% of residents describe themselves as Christian
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White · all residents
White, not charted: 98% of Comber · Ards and North Down’s towns 97% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
98% of residents describe themselves as White, against 97% across Ards and North Down’s towns and 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 76% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Northern Ireland’s towns. Residents with no religion: 28% of the total.
Married adults and civil partners: 50%, a higher share than 66% of towns in England and Wales
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Set against 41% across Northern Ireland’s towns, 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Comber. For 389 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Comber counts 31% of its adults, against 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; at the other end, 22% have no qualification (25%).
Ranked by age, 145th oldest of 414 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Seaton the oldest (61). Nearest to Comber in age: Horbury (46.1), Lymm (46.1), Wideopen (46.2) and Barugh Green and Redbrook (46.2).
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Comber
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comber | 9,529 | — | 46.1 | 24% | 25% |
| Ballygowan | 3,138 | 3.7 mi | 39.1 | 14% | 33% |
| Newtownards | 29,677 | 3.9 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 28% |
| Metropolitan Castlereagh | 58,763 | 5.1 mi | 41 | 18% | 28% |
| Carryduff | 7,173 | 6.3 mi | 40.7 | 18% | 33% |
| Holywood | 10,757 | 7.1 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 26% |
| Saintfield | 3,588 | 7.2 mi | 43.7 | 20% | 29% |
| Bangor | 64,596 | 7.8 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 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.
- “Ards and North Down’s towns” and “Northern Ireland’s towns” mean their settlements. Census comparisons pool every town in Ards and North Down (or Northern Ireland), summed the same way as Comber’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. NISRA adds small random changes to 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 Comber’s residents
What is the population of Comber?
The 2021 Census counted 9,529 people in Comber’s settlement.
What is the average age in Comber?
The median age was 46.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 62% of towns in England and Wales. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Comber?
98% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 97% across Ards and North Down’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Comber?
28% said they had no religion and 70% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 1.3% didn’t answer.
Is Comber good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Comber’s schools page.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 (Flexible Table Builder), data zones summed to NISRA’s Settlement Development Limits 2015 (household composition by super data zone; women and men from whole data zones, which approximate the town’s boundary). 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.