Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0

42.5Median age

Who lives here · NISRA Census 2021

In Newtownards, 14% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% of towns in England and Wales

The figure for households in terraced houses is 25% in Newtownards and 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Still, on shared households of unrelated adults, Newtownards sits lower than 97% of towns in England and Wales: 1.3%. The town had 29,677 residents and 12,537 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 42.5 (younger than nearly two thirds of towns in England and Wales). Census figures put households without a car or van at 21% here.

20%aged 65 or over 5.8%born abroad 12,537households

Ages

Half of Newtownards is under 42.5, younger than 66% of towns in England and Wales

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

NewtownardsNorthern Ireland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here and 12% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Across Newtownards, 20% of residents are 65 or over.

Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+

2535455565

■ Newtownards, 42.5. The typical town is 44.4.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1517%

15 to 2411%

25 to 4425%

45 to 6427%

65 and over20%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

52% women, 48% men

Newtownards

Northern Ireland

WomenMen

About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

A higher share of full-time students than 87% of towns in England and Wales, at 6.3%

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

Full-time students6.3%

Higher managerial and professional8.3%

Lower managerial and professional19%

Intermediate15%

Small employers and self-employed7.3%

Supervisory and technical6.1%

Semi-routine16%

Routine13%

Never worked or long-term unemployed9.3%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Newtownards

7.7%

Northern Ireland’s towns

9.6%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

2,171

residents, 7.7%; Northern Ireland’s towns 9.6%

Of them from abroad

0.3× Northern Ireland’s share

By class, 27% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work (Northern Ireland’s towns: 29% and 27%). Full-time students make up 8.3% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 7.7% in Newtownards.

The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.

Households

2.3 people per household, fewer than in 60% of towns in England and Wales

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 13%Living alone, under 66 20%Families with dependent children 28%Couples and families, no young children 38%Shared houses and other 1.3%

Against Ards and North Down’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns

Newtownards

Ards and North Down’s towns

Northern Ireland’s towns

People per household

1 person32%

2 people34%

3 people16%

4 people13%

5 or more5%

Northern Ireland’s towns.

33% of households are one person living alone, against 34% across Northern Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 28% of households have dependent children.

Homes & cars

A lower share of households in detached houses than 59% of towns in England and Wales, at 26%

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Newtownards

Ards and North Down’s towns

Northern Ireland’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van21%

One43%

Two27%

Three or more8.8%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

Set against 14% across Northern Ireland’s towns, 13% of households live in a flat or apartment in Newtownards. As a yardstick, 24% of households live in a detached house across Northern Ireland’s towns.

Where people were born

Below 61% of towns in England and Wales: 97% of residents have English as their main language

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%

Newtownards

5.7%

Ards and North Down’s towns

6.4%

Northern Ireland’s towns

10%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language97%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well2.2%

Another main language, little or no English0.7%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). Residents whose main language is English make up 94% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Born outside the UK: 5.8% of residents, against 10% across Northern Ireland’s towns.

Ethnicity & religion

Above 98% of towns in England and Wales: 65% 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

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

Other White0%

Asian1.4%

Mixed0.7%

Black0.2%

Other0.2%

0%2%4%

White, not charted: 98% of Newtownards · Ards and North Down’s towns 97% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.

Religion · all residents

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

No religion31%

Christian65%

Muslim0.8%

Hindu0%

Other religion0.8%

Didn’t answer1.7%

0%45%90%

In Newtownards, 31% of residents said they have no religion, beside 21% across Northern Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, just over three quarters of residents describe themselves as Christian across Northern Ireland’s towns.

Relationships & caring

Adults who have never married make up 34% in Newtownards, more than in 59% 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

Never married or in a civil partnership34%

Married or civil partnership47%

Separated3.7%

Divorced8.2%

Widowed7.1%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

3,780residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 14%, against 12% in Northern Ireland’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week6.3%

20 to 49 hours3.2%

50 hours or more4.6%

1,233 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. For adults who have never married, the comparison across Northern Ireland’s towns is 41%.

Qualifications

Adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications24%

A levels or similar17%

Degree level26%

NewtownardsArds and North Down’s townsNorthern Ireland’s towns

With 26% of its adults qualified to degree level, Newtownards compares with 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; another 24% hold no qualification (25%). For 17%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.

Towns its size

Of 228 UK towns its size (21,000 to 40,000 people), the 108th oldest

Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.

Newtownards 42.5

EghamRustingtonLetchworth

304458

The youngest is Egham (31.1) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Newtownards in age: Heanor (42.5), Wickford (42.5), Long Eaton (42.6) and Bedworth (42.6).

Neighbours

Around Newtownards, 4 of 7 towns have a higher median age

Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

ComberBangorDonaghadeeHolywoodMetropolitan CastlereaghBallygowanCarryduffNewtownards

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Newtownards	29,677	—	42.5	20%	28%
Comber	9,529	3.9 mi	46.1	24%	25%
Bangor	64,596	4 mi	43.8	22%	27%
Donaghadee	7,325	6.5 mi	49.2	27%	23%
Holywood	10,757	6.5 mi	47.7	25%	26%
Metropolitan Castlereagh	58,763	7.1 mi	41	18%	28%
Ballygowan	3,138	7.6 mi	39.1	14%	33%
Carryduff	7,173	9.8 mi	40.7	18%	33%

More about Newtownards’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

Health C⁻Life expectancy and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commuteIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of living A⁺Owners and renters, house prices and domestic rates Schools B⁺Post-primary schools and their GCSE results

How to read these numbers

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 Newtownards’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 Newtownards’s residents

What is the population of Newtownards?

The 2021 Census counted 29,677 people in Newtownards’s settlement.

What is the average age in Newtownards?

The median age was 42.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 66% of towns in England and Wales. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Newtownards?

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. 5.8% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Newtownards?

31% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 1.7% didn’t answer.

Is Newtownards good for families?

28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Newtownards’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.