Photo: Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Portinscale is over 58.7, older than 99% of UK towns
The share of households with dependent children trails 98% of UK towns: 17%. 498 residents in 225 households: that is Portinscale at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 7.5% of households have no car or van. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 53% here, more than in 92% of UK towns.
37% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Portinscale comes in at 7.4%. Measured more widely, 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.
3.4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 96% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Portinscale, 43% and 16%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In Portinscale, 7.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
25% of households are one person living alone, 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 2.2%, Portinscale is behind 56% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Portinscale sits below 97% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (6.2%)
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
7.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house.
Fewer residents born abroad than 64% of UK towns: 5%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.8%), then in the rest of Europe (0.8%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 60% of UK towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 92% of UK towns: 96%
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: 96% of Portinscale · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
58% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%). Lower than in 84% of UK towns: 34% of residents said they have no religion. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Chinese (0.4%).
Portinscale sits above 99% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (62%)
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
One in ten residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. In Portinscale, 22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
Among adults, 48% hold a degree-level qualification
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 Portinscale, 48%, and 9.4% have none, against 18%.
Every neighbour of Portinscale has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portinscale | 498 | — | 58.7 | 37% | 17% |
| Keswick | 4,465 | 1.4 mi | 52.8 | 30% | 17% |
| Cockermouth | 8,859 | 8.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 22% |
| Great Broughton and Little Broughton | 1,763 | 11.7 mi | 47 | 23% | 26% |
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 Portinscale’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 Portinscale’s residents
What is the population of Portinscale?
The 2021 Census counted 498 people in Portinscale’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Portinscale?
The median age was 58.7 at the 2021 Census. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Portinscale?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Portinscale?
34% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Portinscale good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Portinscale’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.