Photo: Strider52 · CC BY-SA 3.0Cartmel is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 60.1
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 63% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. At the same time, on households without a car or van, Cartmel sits lower than 94% of UK towns: 7.4%. There were 211 households in the village at the 2021 Census, home to 480 residents. Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care.
Cartmel sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (42%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.6% here and 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Cartmel ranks below 97% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.3%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Cartmel has 39% and 16%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 9.8% here. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
15% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 99% 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.
Households average 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across Cartmel, just over a third of households are one person living alone. On shared households of unrelated adults, Cartmel sits higher than 90% of UK towns: 3.8%. For comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Below 75% of UK towns: 6.5% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
Households in detached houses: 37%, above 71% of UK towns. To put it in context, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 22%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Cartmel, more than in 78% of UK towns
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in Africa (1.1%). 5.7% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 58% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
Cartmel sits below 93% of UK towns for residents with no religion (30%)
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: 94% of Cartmel · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 94% in Cartmel and 73% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.8%).
Cartmel ranks below 79% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 28%
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
17 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. On married adults and civil partners, Cartmel sits higher than 59% of UK towns: 49%. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 44%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 44% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 13% hold no qualification (18%).
Cartmel sits below 3 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartmel | 480 | — | 60.1 | 42% | 15% |
| Allithwaite | 1,171 | 1.1 mi | 55.7 | 32% | 22% |
| Grange-over-Sands | 4,047 | 1.5 mi | 63 | 47% | 11% |
| Arnside | 2,231 | 4.7 mi | 62.4 | 45% | 14% |
| Silverdale | 1,056 | 5.5 mi | 61.5 | 43% | 14% |
| Ulverston | 11,219 | 5.7 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 21% |
| Swarthmoor | 1,030 | 6.7 mi | 50.7 | 27% | 22% |
| Milnthorpe | 1,871 | 7.6 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 26% |
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 Cartmel’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 Cartmel’s residents
What is the population of Cartmel?
The 2021 Census counted 480 people in Cartmel’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cartmel?
The median age was 60.1 at the 2021 Census. 5.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 42% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cartmel?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cartmel?
30% said they had no religion and 63% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Cartmel good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cartmel’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.