Photo: Nigel Monckton · CC BY-SA 2.00.3% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care; in Thornhill, 12%. Households in terraced houses are rarer here than in 82% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 824 people lived locally, in 372 households. Locally, 98% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Younger than 78% of UK towns: half of Thornhill is under 40.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). The census found that just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in Thornhill.
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.
Full-time students: 3.2%, a lower share than 97% 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%.
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 7.1%, against 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
One-person households: 33%, a higher share than 76% 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 with dependent children: 26%, below 65% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%. 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Thornhill sits below 90% of UK towns for households in detached houses (12%)
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
21% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 99% of UK towns: 1.8%
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 the Middle East and Asia (1%), then in EU countries (0.4%). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. More residents whose main language is English than in 97% of UK towns: 99%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 87% of UK towns: 57%
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: 98% of Thornhill · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 40%, Thornhill is behind 59% of UK towns on that count. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 83% of UK towns: 42%
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
Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Thornhill has 36%. For comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 35 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree-level qualifications: 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 19% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 25% hold no qualification (18%).
Thornhill is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornhill | 824 | — | 40.5 | 21% | 26% |
| Egremont | 5,791 | 1.2 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 25% |
| St Bees | 1,187 | 3 mi | 51.2 | 25% | 21% |
| Cleator Moor | 6,671 | 3.9 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Seascale | 1,708 | 5 mi | 50 | 27% | 22% |
| Frizington | 1,754 | 5.5 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 25% |
| Whitehaven | 22,952 | 5.5 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 24% |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 6.6 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 34% |
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 Thornhill’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 Thornhill’s residents
What is the population of Thornhill?
The 2021 Census counted 824 people in Thornhill’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thornhill?
The median age was 40.5 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thornhill?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 1.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thornhill?
40% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 2.7% didn’t answer.
Is Thornhill good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thornhill’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.