Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0In Wigton, 22% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 91% of UK towns
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 26%, against 18% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 5,396 residents in Wigton, living in 2,550 households. Across Wigton, 37% of households are one person living alone. 60% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 94% of UK towns.
A median age of 48.4: Wigton is older than 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 8.4% of residents. Higher than in 75% of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Grange-over-Sands, the oldest of Cumbria’s towns by this measure, it is 47%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wigton, 48.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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 smaller share of full-time students than 78% of UK towns: 4.2%
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%.
By its share of residents who moved in within the year (9.4%), Wigton is above 63% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 93% of UK towns: 1.5%
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.
The average household has 2.1 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, shared households of unrelated adults come to 4.3%.
A higher share of households in terraced houses than 80% of UK towns, at 29%
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 figure for households in flats is 7.9% in Wigton and 23% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. About one household in 4 lives without a car or van. Fewer households in detached houses than in nearly three fifths of UK towns: 26%.
Only 2.2% of Wigton’s residents were born outside the UK
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). More residents whose main language is English than in 95% of UK towns: 99%. Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 15% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 96% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Wigton · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Wigton, just over a third of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Bangladeshi (0.1%).
34% of adults have never married, more than in 57% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 69% of UK towns: 45%. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 131. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.8% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Wigton, 23%, and 25% have none, against 18%.
Of 516 UK towns its size (4,000 to 7,000 people), the 166th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Wigton in age: Ilminster (48.3), Llantrisant (48.3), Market Rasen (48.5) and Quorndon (48.5).
Wigton and its 6 nearest towns: 2 of them 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 Wigton’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 Wigton’s residents
What is the population of Wigton?
The 2021 Census counted 5,396 people in Wigton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wigton?
The median age was 48.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 76% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wigton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 2.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wigton?
34% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Wigton good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wigton’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.