Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 1.2%
With households with dependent children at 21%, Distington is behind 92% of UK towns on that count. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 61%. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 94% of UK towns. The village’s 640 households held 1,375 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Distington’s people
Many carers
167 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.7% in Distington, less than in 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 8.4% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Half of Distington’s residents are over 48.1, older than in 75% of UK towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Here, 27% of residents are 65 or over.
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 make up 2.5% in Distington, less than in 99% 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%.
Nearly a fifth of Distington’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 39% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across Distington, 5.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More people live alone than in 95% of UK towns: 38% of households
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.7%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Households average 2.1 people. Typically, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
41% of households live in a terraced house, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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 make up 15%, against 21% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households in terraced houses is 24% across England’s towns.
Distington ranks below 99% of UK towns on 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). Distington has more residents whose main language is English than 97% of UK towns, at 99%. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Distington sits above 99% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (98%)
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 Distington · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
31% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
More unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns: 13%
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
There is little gap on married adults and civil partners: 44%, about the same as across England’s towns. Here, 34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Across England’s towns, unpaid carers come to 8.7%.
16% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 16% of adults in Distington (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 30% (England’s towns: 18%).
A younger town than 2 of the 7 around it: Distington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distington | 1,375 | — | 48.1 | 27% | 21% |
| High Harrington | 1,574 | 1.3 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 24% |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 2.5 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 34% |
| Workington | 21,276 | 2.5 mi | 41.7 | 20% | 25% |
| Stainburn | 2,120 | 3.4 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 26% |
| Whitehaven | 22,952 | 4.2 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 24% |
| Frizington | 1,754 | 4.2 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 25% |
| Seaton | 5,051 | 4.5 mi | 47 | 24% | 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 Distington’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 Distington’s residents
What is the population of Distington?
The 2021 Census counted 1,375 people in Distington’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Distington?
The median age was 48.1 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Distington?
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 Distington?
31% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Distington good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Distington’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.