Gatepiers to South of Gosforth Hall · Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Gosforth is over 58.4
The figure for households with dependent children is 16% in Gosforth and 29% across England’s towns. More one-person households than in 98% of UK towns: 39%. At the 2021 Census, 929 people lived locally, in 470 households. 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Residents aged 65 and over: 40%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 4.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Gosforth. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 41% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 17% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year: 6.1% of the total. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Gosforth ranks below 99% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 0.6%
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 1.9 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Few flats: only 1.5% of households in Gosforth live in one
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 without a car or van: 11% here and 24% across England’s towns. Just over half of households live in a detached house. At 16%, the share of households in terraced houses is lower than in 69% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Only 3% of Gosforth’s residents were born outside the UK
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. More residents whose main language is English than in 88% of UK towns: 99%.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 96% of UK towns: 28%
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: 97% of Gosforth · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 64% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%. Against that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British stands at 97%.
Adults who have never married: 20%, a lower share than 99% 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
38 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 10% here, more than in 71% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Gosforth counts 37% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 19% have no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Gosforth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gosforth | 929 | — | 58.4 | 40% | 16% |
| Seascale | 1,708 | 2.2 mi | 50 | 27% | 22% |
| Egremont | 5,791 | 6.1 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 25% |
| Cleator Moor | 6,671 | 8 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 24% |
| St Bees | 1,187 | 8 mi | 51.2 | 25% | 21% |
| Frizington | 1,754 | 8.9 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 25% |
| Whitehaven | 22,952 | 10.3 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 24% |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 11 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 34% |
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 Gosforth’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 Gosforth’s residents
What is the population of Gosforth?
The 2021 Census counted 929 people in Gosforth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gosforth?
The median age was 58.4 at the 2021 Census. 4.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gosforth?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gosforth?
28% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Gosforth good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gosforth’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.