Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.9: Skelton is older than 95% of UK towns
Detached houses are home to 69% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. 358 residents in 153 households: that is Skelton at the 2021 Census. The share of households in flats stands at 0.7%. Lower than in 97% of UK towns: 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
26% of residents are 65 or over, a share 76% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one in ten residents, against 12% across England’s towns. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
A lower share of full-time students than 80% of UK towns, at 4.1%
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 43% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 15% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 87% of UK towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
One-person households make up 19% in Skelton, less than in 99% 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.
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The share of households with dependent children stands at 22%. Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%.
Below 99% of UK towns: 1.3% of households live in a terraced house
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
With households without a car or van at 5.2%, Skelton is behind 98% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 92% 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
The share of residents born outside the UK is 3.7%, against 18% across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in Africa (1.4%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). Typically, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Above 94% of UK towns: 60% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Skelton · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Census figures put residents with no religion at 34% in Skelton.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 97% of UK towns, at 59%
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
Across England’s towns, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Skelton, 26%. For 9 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 9.5% here, more than in 54% of UK towns. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 47% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
47% of Skelton’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 10% have none (18%).
Of the 3 towns nearest Skelton, 1 are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Skelton’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 Skelton’s residents
What is the population of Skelton?
The 2021 Census counted 358 people in Skelton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Skelton?
The median age was 53.9 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Skelton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Skelton?
34% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Skelton good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Skelton’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.