Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households without a car or van than 92% of towns in England and Wales: 28%
Households with dependent children: 31%, above four in five towns in England and Wales. Locally, nearly two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership. Half of Strabane’s residents are under 40.9, younger than in 76% of towns in England and Wales. In 2021, the Census found 13,507 residents locally, living in 5,231 households.
Strabane ranks above 92% of towns in England and Wales on residents aged 15 to 24: 12%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 7.3% of residents. On residents aged 65 and over, Strabane sits lower than nearly four in five towns in England and Wales: 18%. In Castlederg, the oldest of Derry City and the town’s towns by this measure, it is 20%.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Strabane, 40.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.
Only 5.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Strabane
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the 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 Strabane, just over a fifth of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Northern Ireland’s towns. 7.3% of adults are full-time students, more than in 92% of towns in England and Wales. Residents who moved in within the year make up 9.6% across Northern Ireland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 73% of towns in England and Wales: 2.4 people each on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Derry City and Strabane’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
People per household
Northern Ireland’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2%, close to the figure across Northern Ireland’s towns. One-person households account for 32%.
Only 7.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Strabane
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
30% of households live in a terraced house, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Across Northern Ireland’s towns, the share of households in flats is 14%. Here, 31% of households live in a detached house.
97% of residents have English as their main language, below 55% of towns in England and Wales
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 15%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (9.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%). At 10%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in nearly three quarters of towns in England and Wales. Measured more widely, 94% of residents have English as their main language across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Strabane sits below 99% of towns in England and Wales for residents with no religion (5.2%)
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White · all residents
White, not charted: 99% of Strabane · Derry City and Strabane’s towns 97% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
93% of residents describe themselves as Christian; across Northern Ireland’s towns the figure is 76%. The share of residents with no religion across Northern Ireland’s towns is 21%.
13% of residents give unpaid care, a share 99% of towns in England and Wales don’t reach
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 561. Few places have as many adults who have never married: 42% here, more than in 94% of towns in England and Wales. For comparison, 12% of residents give unpaid care across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 25% of adults in Strabane, 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; 33% have no qualification, against 25%. Many still at university: 15% list A levels as their highest qualification.
Of 407 UK towns its size (9,000 to 18,000 people), the 81st youngest
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 Strabane in age: Hook (40.9), Westbury (40.9), Mossley (41) and Cudworth and Shafton (41.1).
Median age: 1 of the 2 towns around Strabane are older
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strabane | 13,507 | — | 40.9 | 18% | 31% |
| Castlederg | 2,980 | 9.3 mi | 41.2 | 20% | 27% |
| Newbuildings | 2,837 | 10.3 mi | 37.1 | 14% | 36% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Derry City and Strabane’s towns” and “Northern Ireland’s towns” mean their settlements. Census comparisons pool every town in Derry City and Strabane (or Northern Ireland), summed the same way as Strabane’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. NISRA 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 Strabane’s residents
What is the population of Strabane?
The 2021 Census counted 13,507 people in Strabane’s settlement.
What is the average age in Strabane?
The median age was 40.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of towns in England and Wales. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Strabane?
99% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 97% across Derry City and Strabane’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Strabane?
5.2% said they had no religion and 93% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 1.5% didn’t answer.
Is Strabane good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Strabane’s schools page.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 (Flexible Table Builder), data zones summed to NISRA’s Settlement Development Limits 2015 (household composition by super data zone; women and men from whole data zones, which approximate the town’s boundary). 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.