Photo: Rich Tea · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households with dependent children than 92% of UK towns: 21%
Households in terraced houses: 31% here and 24% across England’s towns. Ulverston counted 11,219 residents and 5,364 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 36% of households are one person living alone. The median age here is 49.1, higher than in 80% of UK towns.
Ulverston’s population moved +6% on 2011, less than in 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ulverston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,700 people in 2011; 12,400 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+21%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−2%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 260 more people.
Ulverston ranks above 77% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 26%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 8% of residents. On residents aged 15 to 24, Ulverston sits lower than two thirds of UK towns: 9.2%. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Grange-over-Sands, the oldest of Cumbria’s towns by this measure, it is 47%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ulverston, 49.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 84% of UK towns, at 4%
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%.
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 94% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
In Ulverston, 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Fewer households in detached houses than 76% of UK towns: 19%
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
In Ulverston, 17% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in flats: 10% of the total.
Ulverston: 99% of residents have English as their main language, above 75% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). 4.6% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 68% of UK towns. To put it in context, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 19% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 77% of UK towns: 95%
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: 95% of Ulverston · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 53% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. Still, 40% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 57% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.2%).
Adults who have never married: 31%, a lower share than 56% 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
48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a higher share than in 51% of UK towns. By way of comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Across Ulverston, 9.4% of residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications: 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Ulverston’s adults: 37% with a degree-level qualification and 14% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Among 397 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, the 66th oldest
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 Ulverston in age: Frodsham (49), Verwood (49), Banstead (49.1) and Penzance (49.2).
Older than Ulverston: 3 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulverston | 11,219 | — | 49.1 | 26% | 21% |
| Swarthmoor | 1,030 | 1.1 mi | 50.7 | 27% | 22% |
| Dalton-in-Furness | 7,551 | 4.4 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 24% |
| Askam in Furness | 3,172 | 4.6 mi | 47.8 | 23% | 22% |
| Allithwaite | 1,171 | 6.1 mi | 55.7 | 32% | 22% |
| Grange-over-Sands | 4,047 | 7.1 mi | 63 | 47% | 11% |
| Millom | 5,690 | 7.3 mi | 46.4 | 22% | 24% |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 55,260 | 7.4 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 25% |
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 Ulverston’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. Ulverston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,821 people in 2021, against 11,219 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 Ulverston’s residents
What is the population of Ulverston?
The 2021 Census counted 11,219 people in Ulverston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,400 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ulverston?
The median age was 49.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 80% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ulverston?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ulverston?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Ulverston good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ulverston’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.