Photo: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns, at 20%
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 7.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. Alston is home to 1,075 residents in 504 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, 98% of residents describe themselves as White British. On shared households of unrelated adults, Alston sits lower than just over four fifths of UK towns: 1.8%.
What the Census says about Alston’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Alston’s residents are under 51.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 26% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Half of Alston is over 51.1, older than 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, above just over three quarters of UK towns. In Grange-over-Sands, the oldest of Cumbria’s towns by this measure, it is 47%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 99% of UK towns: 2.6% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Alston has 6.5%. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
One-person households make up 39% in Alston, more than in 98% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The typical household size is 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. One-person households make up 30% across England’s towns.
32% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 86% of UK towns
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 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Alston has 18%. In Alston, 25% of households live in a detached house. 15% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 70% of UK towns.
Alston sits below 99% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (1.8%)
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 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Alston has 99%. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (0.9%), then in Africa (0.6%).
No religion: 42% of residents, a higher share than 56% 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: 98% of Alston · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up nearly half of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Above 63% of UK towns: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 35. The wider picture: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 10% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 70% of UK towns. Set against 44% across England’s towns, 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Alston.
27% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Alston, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 17% have no qualification at all (18%).
The places around Alston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alston | 1,075 | — | 51.1 | 26% | 20% |
| Haltwhistle | 3,646 | 11 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 21% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Cumbria’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cumbria (or England), summed the same way as Alston’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Alston’s residents
What is the population of Alston?
The 2021 Census counted 1,075 people in Alston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Alston?
The median age was 51.1 at the 2021 Census. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Alston?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 1.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Alston?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Alston good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Alston’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). 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.