Photo: Les Hull · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of one-person households than 99% of UK towns: 41%
At 2 people, the average household compares with 2.1 across Scotland’s towns. On households in flats, Dumfries sits higher than 94% of UK towns: 28%. The 2022 Census counted 33,694 residents in 16,517 households. In Dumfries, 35% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
A young town: 10% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The median age in Dumfries is 44.9, higher than in 53% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.9% of residents. In Kirkcudbright, the oldest of Dumfries and Galloway’s towns by this measure, it is 36%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dumfries, 44.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 74% of UK towns: 5.5%
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
29% of Dumfries’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Set beside that, nearly one in ten adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 23% of households in Dumfries have dependent children
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dumfries and Galloway’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 3.5% across Scotland’s towns. For households with dependent children, the comparison across Scotland’s towns is 24%.
More car-free households than 90% of UK towns: 27% in Dumfries
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2022. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 18%; Dumfries has 26%. Still, about one household in 4 lives without a car or van, the 2nd highest share in Dumfries and Galloway. For Dumfries, the census puts households in terraced houses at 17%.
Below 58% of UK towns: 5.6% of residents were born outside the UK
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2022.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
26% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 11%. In Dumfries, 97% of residents have English as their main language.
Dumfries ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 57%
How residents described themselves at the 2022 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 93% of Dumfries · Dumfries and Galloway’s towns 95% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 86%; Dumfries has 93%. Residents with no religion make up 51% across Scotland’s towns. Islam is the religion of 1.1% of residents.
36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 72% of UK towns don’t reach
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 3 and over), Census 2022.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 3 and over
Unpaid carers: 12%, near enough the figure across Scotland’s towns. Adults who have never married: 40% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 43% in Dumfries.
27% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Dumfries’s adults: 27% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 32% and 17% across Scotland’s towns.
41st oldest of 195 UK towns of 24,000 to 45,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Hatfield (30.3) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Dumfries in age: Billericay (44.7), Neath (44.8), St Austell (45) and Portishead (45.2).
Every neighbour of Dumfries has an older population
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumfries | 33,694 | — | 44.9 | 22% | 23% |
| Locharbriggs | 5,488 | 2.3 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 24% |
| Lockerbie | 4,411 | 10.8 mi | 47.9 | 26% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in term time. 20 March 2022 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.
- “Dumfries and Galloway’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Dumfries and Galloway (or Scotland), summed the same way as Dumfries’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. National Records of Scotland adjusts small 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 Dumfries’s residents
What is the population of Dumfries?
The 2022 Census counted 33,694 people in Dumfries’s locality.
What is the average age in Dumfries?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2022 Census, older than 53% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dumfries?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 95% across Dumfries and Galloway’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dumfries?
57% said they had no religion and 35% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Dumfries good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Dumfries’s schools page.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality (UV101b, UV103, UV104, UV113, UV201, UV204b, UV205, UV212, UV301, UV402, UV405, UV406, UV501, UV607, UV801). 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.