Photo: Doug Sim · CC BY-SA 3.0Below 99% of UK towns: 0.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
In St Bees, 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, beside 44% across England’s towns. Still, 21% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 91% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 1,187, in 551 households. Across St Bees, 29% of residents said they have no religion.
What the Census says about St Bees’s people
Older than most towns
Half of St Bees’s residents are under 51.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 25% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A median age of 51.2: St Bees is older than 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 25% in St Bees.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In St Bees, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 89% 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 St Bees, 50% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%. On the census count, 4.6% of adults are full-time students.
St Bees households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 93% 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.
A third of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%.
St Bees sits below 84% of UK towns for households without a car or van (9.7%)
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
The share of households in flats is 10%, against 23% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Across St Bees, 43% of households live in a detached house. On households in terraced houses, St Bees sits higher than 78% of UK towns: 28%.
St Bees sits below 77% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (4%)
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.4%) or in Africa (0.7%). On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 61% of UK towns.
St Bees: 65% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 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: 96% of St Bees · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and African (0.5%). At 96%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in just over four fifths of UK towns. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Fewer adults who have never married than 92% of UK towns: 25%
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
At 8.9%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For 31 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
50% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 50% of St Bees’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 7.5% have no qualification (18%).
Every neighbour of St Bees 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Bees | 1,187 | — | 51.2 | 25% | 21% |
| Egremont | 5,791 | 2.3 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 25% |
| Whitehaven | 22,952 | 3.5 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 24% |
| Cleator Moor | 6,671 | 3.7 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 5.2 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 34% |
| Frizington | 1,754 | 5.4 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 25% |
| Distington | 1,375 | 7.6 mi | 48.1 | 27% | 21% |
| Seascale | 1,708 | 7.7 mi | 50 | 27% | 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 St Bees’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 St Bees’s residents
What is the population of St Bees?
The 2021 Census counted 1,187 people in St Bees’s built-up area.
What is the average age in St Bees?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is St Bees?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Bees?
29% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is St Bees good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on St Bees’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.