Photo: Colin Kinnear · CC BY-SA 2.0Penrith sits below 88% of UK towns for households with dependent children (22%)
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 58%, Penrith is ahead of 90% of UK towns on that count. The census found that 36% of households are one person living alone here. At 20%, the share of households in flats is higher than in 83% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 16,705 residents and 7,745 households here.
What the Census says about Penrith’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Penrith at 15,500 in 2011 and 18,100 in 2024, up 17%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 80% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Faster growth than 80% of UK towns: Penrith changed by +17% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Penrith’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,500 people in 2011; 18,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+31%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+2%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 420 more people.
Penrith is older than 63% of UK towns: a median age of 46.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (23%), Penrith is above just over three fifths of UK towns. Locally, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Penrith, 46.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 3.9% in Penrith, less than in 87% 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%.
In Penrith, 27% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. At 8.9%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is higher than in 53% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 86% 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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 2.7%, Penrith is ahead of 67% of UK towns on that count.
23% of households have no car or van, a share 82% 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
Little separates the share of households in detached houses here, 21%, from the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 25% of the total.
Residents whose main language is English make up 94% in Penrith, less than in 82% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are a quarter of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). On residents born outside the UK, Penrith sits higher than 70% of UK towns: 9%. Across the comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (6.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%).
Penrith sits below 83% of UK towns for residents with no religion (35%)
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: 90% of Penrith · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British here. The benchmark for residents with no religion across England’s towns: 37%. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (6.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.6%).
Adults who have never married: 35%, a higher share than 65% 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
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 46% in Penrith and 44% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 8.5%, fewer than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. For adults who have never married, the comparison across England’s towns is 39%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 27%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Penrith’s adults: 27% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
98th highest median age among 336 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Penrith in age: Stone (46.1), Devizes (46.1), Little Lever (46.2) and Littlehampton (46.2).
The places around Penrith
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penrith | 16,705 | — | 46.2 | 23% | 22% |
| Appleby-in-Westmorland | 3,233 | 11.9 mi | 51.1 | 29% | 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 Penrith’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. Penrith’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,986 people in 2021, against 16,705 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 Penrith’s residents
What is the population of Penrith?
The 2021 Census counted 16,705 people in Penrith’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,100 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Penrith?
The median age was 46.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 63% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Penrith?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Penrith?
35% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Penrith good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Penrith’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. 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.