Photo: Graham Robson · CC BY-SA 2.0Hawkshead sits below 98% of UK towns for households with dependent children (17%)
Unpaid carers: 5.1% here and 8.7% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 261 residents in Hawkshead, living in 127 households. One-person households: 38% of the total. 37% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 91% of UK towns.
A median age of 51.6: Hawkshead is older than 91% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 13% of residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Hawkshead. Lower than in 56% of UK towns: 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 3.9%, a lower share than 86% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 10% here and 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
2 people per household, fewer than in 98% 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 stands at 2.4%.
Only 13% of households have no car or van in Hawkshead
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
Detached houses are home to a fifth of households, against 21% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 24% across England’s towns. Households in flats account for 10%.
Hawkshead sits below 98% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (2.3%)
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
90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, against 100% in Hawkshead. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%) and in EU countries (0.4%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97%, a higher share than 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: 97% of Hawkshead · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On religion, 47% answered “no religion” and 49% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. By contrast, residents who describe themselves as Christian are rarer here than in 53% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns: 73%.
More adults who have never married than 70% of UK towns: 36%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 3. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Hawkshead has more married adults and civil partners than 52% of UK towns, at 48%.
36% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 36% of adults in Hawkshead (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 13% (England’s towns: 18%).
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Hawkshead are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawkshead | 261 | — | 51.6 | 21% | 17% |
| Bowness-on-Windermere | 2,290 | 3.4 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 18% |
| Windermere | 4,819 | 3.9 mi | 51 | 26% | 20% |
| Ambleside | 2,624 | 4.2 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 15% |
| Staveley | 1,466 | 7.3 mi | 48.4 | 28% | 21% |
| Kendal | 28,939 | 10.9 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 23% |
| Levens | 1,020 | 11.2 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 22% |
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 Hawkshead’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 Hawkshead’s residents
What is the population of Hawkshead?
The 2021 Census counted 261 people in Hawkshead’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hawkshead?
The median age was 51.6 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hawkshead?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 2.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hawkshead?
47% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 3.1% didn’t answer.
Is Hawkshead good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hawkshead’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.