Photo: JonnyH · CC BY-SA 3.0Wetheral is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 58.5
The share of households in terraced houses is 3.5%, against 24% across England’s towns. 1,129 residents in 553 households: that is Wetheral at the 2021 Census. The census found that 28% of residents said they have no religion in the village. Compared with other places, households in detached houses are common here: 59%, more than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wetheral’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wetheral’s residents are under 58.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 37% 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).
37% of Wetheral is 65 or over, a higher share than 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 2.3 times the share across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. On the census count, 6.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
3.3% of adults are full-time students, below 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 17% in Wetheral, less than in 98% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.3% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. Typically, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The average household has 2.1 people. One-person households are rarer here than in just over half of UK towns.
Households without a car or van: 7.3%, a lower share than 94% of UK towns
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
Compared with 23% across England’s towns, 17% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Households without a car or van: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Wetheral ranks above 92% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%
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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2%) and in Africa (0.8%). Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. 3.6% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 84% of UK towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 65% in Wetheral, more than in 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: 97% of Wetheral · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.1%). At 97%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in 93% of UK towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Fewer adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 20%
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
Compared with 44% across England’s towns, three in five adults are married or in a civil partnership here. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers account for 8.6%.
A degree-level qualification for 46% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 46% of Wetheral’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 12% have no qualification (18%).
The towns around Wetheral are all younger
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 Wetheral’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 Wetheral’s residents
What is the population of Wetheral?
The 2021 Census counted 1,129 people in Wetheral’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wetheral?
The median age was 58.5 at the 2021 Census. 6.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wetheral?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wetheral?
28% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Wetheral good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wetheral’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.