Photo: Martin Dawes · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of UK towns: 2.6% of households have no car or van
Here just over a fifth of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. Clifton is home to 740 residents in 309 households, by the 2021 Census. 57% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 55%, more than in 88% of UK towns.
8.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Clifton is 41.3, lower than in 73% of UK towns. Against that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Clifton, 16% of residents are 65 or over. The largest age band is 45–49: 8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns.
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.
Full-time students: 3.5%, a lower share than 94% of UK towns
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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Clifton, 31% and 24%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, 8.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
More households with dependent children than 80% of UK towns: 31%
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.
At 2.4 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.6%.
Households in flats: 2.6%, a lower share than 95% 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
Households in terraced houses: 17% here and 24% across England’s towns. Here, 46% of households live in a detached house. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.6%, a lower share than 82% 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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). 99% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 83% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 83% 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: 96% of Clifton · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.7%). At 37%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 72% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
A lower share of unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns, at 5.9%
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
11 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Fewer adults who have never married than in 58% of UK towns: 31%. Across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 33% of adults in Clifton, 34% across England’s towns; 12% have no qualification, against 18%.
The towns around Clifton are all older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton | 740 | — | 41.3 | 16% | 31% |
| Penrith | 16,705 | 2.6 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 22% |
| Appleby-in-Westmorland | 3,233 | 9.8 mi | 51.1 | 29% | 20% |
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 Clifton’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 Clifton’s residents
What is the population of Clifton?
The 2021 Census counted 740 people in Clifton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Clifton?
The median age was 41.3 at the 2021 Census. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Clifton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Clifton?
37% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Clifton good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Clifton’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.