Photo: Robert Eva · CC BY-SA 2.0Luton is younger than 96% of UK towns: a median age of 34.7
In Luton the average household is 2.8 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Compared with other places, households without a car or van are common here: 24%, more than in 86% of UK towns. The city had 233,524 residents in 82,186 households at the 2021 Census. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 5%.
What the Census says about Luton’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in Bedfordshire
38% of residents were born outside the UK, against 23% across Bedfordshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (17%) and in EU countries (13%). Where people were born ↓
A city of families
38% of Luton’s 82,186 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 97% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A mix of backgrounds
67% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 99% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Pakistani (18%), Other White (13%) and Bangladeshi (8.9%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Luton’s residents are under 34.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
+17% since 2011, a pace 80% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Luton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 212,700 people in 2011; 248,800 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 6,210 people. Change by age ran from +23% for the 30 to 44 to +10% for the 16 to 29.
Luton ranks below 96% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 12%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.9% of residents. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 13% here, more than in 95% of UK towns. In Caddington, the oldest of Bedfordshire’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Luton, 34.7. 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 England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of full-time students than 96% of UK towns: 10%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s 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%.
23% of Luton’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On residents who moved in within the year, Luton sits higher than 73% of UK towns: 10%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A higher share of households with dependent children than 97% of UK towns, at 38%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Bedfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
27% of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Below 89% of UK towns: 13% of households live in a detached house
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
Just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Households in flats are more common here than in 90% of UK towns. The wider picture: 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
38% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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 45%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (17%) or in EU countries (13%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. At 77%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 99% of UK towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 22% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
In Luton, 18% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 33% of Luton · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 32%. 33% of residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 99% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. By its share of residents who describe themselves as Christian (38%), Luton is below 95% of UK towns.
Unpaid carers make up 7.7% in Luton, less than in 89% of UK towns
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
Some 5,069 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Unpaid carers make up 8.7% across England’s towns. Lower than in 62% of UK towns: 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Adults who have never married make up 39%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Luton, 23%, while 30% hold one at degree level (34%). A levels top the qualifications of 15%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 29 in Central Luton to 44 in Bramingham
The city’s 24 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bramingham is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Central Luton the youngest (median age 29). Families with children are most common in Montrose Avenue (56% of households).
11th youngest of 47 UK towns of 163,000 to 315,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tower Hamlets (30.8) and the oldest Sunderland (42.6). Nearest to Luton in age: Hammersmith and Fulham (34.2), Camden (34.6), Southampton (34.7) and Slough (35.3).
Every nearby town is older than Luton
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luton | 233,524 | — | 34.7 | 12% | 38% |
| Caddington | 3,288 | 2.4 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Slip End | 1,410 | 2.9 mi | 46.5 | 26% | 26% |
| Houghton Regis | 18,814 | 3.6 mi | 36.5 | 12% | 37% |
| Dunstable | 34,498 | 4 mi | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Kensworth | 1,517 | 4.2 mi | 46 | 21% | 29% |
| Markyate | 3,174 | 4.2 mi | 41.6 | 16% | 32% |
| Barton-le-Clay | 4,941 | 5 mi | 47.8 | 22% | 28% |
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.
- “Bedfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Bedfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Luton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Luton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 234,590 people in 2021, against 233,524 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS 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 Luton’s residents
What is the population of Luton?
The 2021 Census counted 233,524 people in Luton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 248,800 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Luton?
The median age was 34.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Luton?
33% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 38% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Luton?
18% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 32% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Luton good for families?
38% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Montrose Avenue (56% of households). Schools are on Luton’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. All under the 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.