Photo: Billy McCrorie · CC BY-SA 2.0Stranraer: 42% of households are one person living alone, above 99% of UK towns
The average household has 2 people, against 2.1 across Scotland’s towns. On households in flats, Stranraer sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 20%. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 9,729, in 4,853 households. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 44%.
Older than 68% of UK towns: half of Stranraer is over 46.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.7% of residents. On residents aged 65 and over, Stranraer sits higher than 70% of UK towns: 25%. Here one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 12%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stranraer, 46.9. 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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 4.5% of adults are full-time students in Stranraer
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine or semi-routine work; Stranraer has 20% and 37%. As a reference point, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Only 22% of households have dependent children in Stranraer
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.
Here 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 3.5%. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households have dependent children across Scotland’s towns.
In Stranraer, 23% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 66% of UK towns
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
Set against 19% across Scotland’s towns, 23% of households live in a terraced house in Stranraer. On households without a car or van, Stranraer sits higher than 93% of UK towns: 28%. As a reference point, 18% of households live in a detached house across Scotland’s towns.
Below 99% of UK towns: 2% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). Residents born outside the UK: 11% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison. Higher than in 93% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 14% of those born abroad (against 34% across Scotland’s towns).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97%, a higher share than 96% of UK towns
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: 97% of Stranraer · Dumfries and Galloway’s towns 95% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Pakistani (0.2%). Just over half of residents said they have no religion, more than in 95% of UK towns. The wider picture: 86% of residents describe themselves as White British across Scotland’s towns.
More unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns: 13% of residents
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
Adults who have never married: 34% here and 40% across Scotland’s towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents give unpaid care across Scotland’s towns. The census found that 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Stranraer.
A degree-level qualification for 16% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 16% of its adults qualified to degree level, Stranraer compares with 32% across Scotland’s towns; another 29% hold no qualification (17%).
118th highest median age among 414 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Tidworth (28.4), the youngest, and Seaton (61), the oldest. Nearest to Stranraer in age: Oakham (46.9), Codsall (46.9), Sprotbrough (47) and Whitchurch (47).
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Stranraer’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 Stranraer’s residents
What is the population of Stranraer?
The 2022 Census counted 9,729 people in Stranraer’s locality.
What is the average age in Stranraer?
The median age was 46.9 at the 2022 Census, older than 68% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stranraer?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 95% across Dumfries and Galloway’s towns. 2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stranraer?
51% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Stranraer good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Stranraer’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.