Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer family households than 95% of UK towns: 20% in Grasmere
Nearly a third of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). At the 2021 Census, 519 people lived in Grasmere, in 225 households. The census found that 28% of residents are 65 or over here. One-person households are more common here than in 83% of UK towns.
In Grasmere, 6.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 65–69: nearly one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. With a median age of 49.2, Grasmere is older than just over four fifths of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
1.1% of adults are full-time students, fewer 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%.
On residents who moved in within the year, 11% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2 people, below 97% 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 share of shared households of unrelated adults is 1.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Households in flats make up 19% in Grasmere, more than in 80% 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
The figure for households without a car or van is 21% in Grasmere and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 22%. 28% of households live in a detached house, a lower share than in 52% of UK towns.
16% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 88% 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
Nine in ten residents have English as their main language, about the same as across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (11%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.3%). Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%.
Grasmere: 64% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 98% 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: 85% of Grasmere · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Caribbean (0.6%). Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 78% of UK towns.
7.3% of residents give unpaid care, below 94% 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
Some 14 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 54% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care. Where 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Grasmere has 33%.
Among adults, 39% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Grasmere’s adults: 39% with a degree-level qualification and 17% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Among its 5 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Grasmere
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasmere | 519 | — | 49.2 | 28% | 20% |
| Ambleside | 2,624 | 3.4 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 15% |
| Windermere | 4,819 | 7.8 mi | 51 | 26% | 20% |
| Bowness-on-Windermere | 2,290 | 8.2 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 18% |
| Staveley | 1,466 | 10.3 mi | 48.4 | 28% | 21% |
| Keswick | 4,465 | 10.3 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 17% |
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 Grasmere’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 Grasmere’s residents
What is the population of Grasmere?
The 2021 Census counted 519 people in Grasmere’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Grasmere?
The median age was 49.2 at the 2021 Census. 6.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Grasmere?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Grasmere?
32% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 3.1% didn’t answer.
Is Grasmere good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Grasmere’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.