Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Households with dependent children: 23%, a lower share than 84% of UK towns
One-person households: 34% here and 30% across England’s towns. Locally, 27% of households live in a terraced house. At 19%, the share of households in flats is higher than in 82% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 28,939 residents in Kendal, living in 13,212 households.
Kendal changed by +6% from 2011 to 2024, behind 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Kendal’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 28,700 people in 2011; 30,300 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 340. Change by age ran from +33% for the 65 and over to −9% for the 0 to 15.
A median age of 46.6: Kendal is older than 66% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). Meanwhile, residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kendal, 46.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.4%, a lower share than 68% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 33% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 29% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 8.6%.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 85% 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 tops 76% of UK towns: 3%.
Households without a car or van: 20%, a higher share than 71% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Kendal has 19%. For households without a car or van, the comparison across England’s towns is 24%.
In Kendal, 97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 66% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns the share born abroad is 18%; in Kendal it is 6.7%. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
Above 55% of UK towns: 42% of residents said they have no religion
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: 93% of Kendal · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (4.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.3%). More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 53% of UK towns: 93%. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Christians make up 50% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns.
Above 60% of UK towns: 34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%. For 615 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Lower than in 71% of UK towns: 8.6% of residents give unpaid care.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Kendal, 35%, and 16% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 43 in Kendal Town & Greenside to 53 in Kendal East & Whinfell
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Kendal East & Whinfell is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Kendal Town & Greenside the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in Kendal South (24% of households).
240 UK towns of 20,000 to 39,000 people: this is the 36th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Kendal in age: Ripley (46.5), Whitley Bay (46.6), Horndean (46.6) and Ashton-in-Makerfield (46.7).
Kendal sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendal | 28,939 | — | 46.6 | 24% | 23% |
| Levens | 1,020 | 4.3 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 22% |
| Staveley | 1,466 | 4.7 mi | 48.4 | 28% | 21% |
| Milnthorpe | 1,871 | 6.8 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 26% |
| Windermere | 4,819 | 7.4 mi | 51 | 26% | 20% |
| Bowness-on-Windermere | 2,290 | 7.5 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 18% |
| Holme | 1,477 | 8.3 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Sedbergh | 1,449 | 8.5 mi | 35.3 | 23% | 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 Kendal’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Kendal’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 29,588 people in 2021, against 28,939 in the built-up area.
- 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 Kendal’s residents
What is the population of Kendal?
The 2021 Census counted 28,939 people in Kendal’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 30,300 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Kendal?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kendal?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 6.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kendal?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Kendal good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Kendal South (24% of households). Schools are on Kendal’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.