Photo: M J Richardson · CC BY-SA 2.0One-person households make up 41% in Dundee, more than in 99% of UK towns
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 29%; Dundee has 36%. The city had 147,365 residents and 69,282 households at the 2022 Census, with a median age of 38.4 (younger than 88% of UK towns). Residents with no religion: 55% of the total. 35% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a lower share than in 97% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Dundee’s people
A student city
The 2022 Census counted 19,530 full-time students aged 16 and over, 16% of adults, against 9.4% across Scotland’s towns: more than in 99% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Dundee’s residents are under 38.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 16% are 15 to 24 and 18% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of UK towns: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The largest age band is 20–24: one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Scotland’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 18%. With a median age of 38.4, Dundee is younger than 88% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dundee, 38.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 16% in Dundee, more than in 99% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Leave the students aside and Dundee’s other adults look much like Scotland’s: 33% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. Full-time students: 9.4% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Dundee households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 96% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dundee City’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
In Dundee, just over a fifth of households have dependent children, beside 24% across Scotland’s towns. Across Dundee, 5.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
47% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
13% of households live in a terraced house (Scotland’s towns: 19%). Elsewhere, 39% of households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 88% of UK towns.
Above 82% of UK towns: 13% 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
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 93% in Dundee and 94% across Scotland’s towns. On average, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (5.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (4.5%).
Dundee sits below 98% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (33%)
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: 83% of Dundee · Dundee City’s towns 83% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 86% across Scotland’s towns, 83% of residents describe themselves as White British in Dundee. Elsewhere, nearly two in five residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (6.6%), Pakistani (2.3%) and African (1.4%).
47% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 97% 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
4,405 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Adults who have never married: 40% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 94% of UK towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Dundee, 32% across Scotland’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 17%. Highers are the highest qualification of 12%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
25th youngest of 50 UK towns of 103,000 to 199,000 people
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 Salford (29.8), the youngest, and Worthing (44.8), the oldest. Nearest to Dundee in age: West Bromwich (37.9), Swindon (38.1), Maidstone (38.5) and Kingston upon Thames (38.6).
Dundee and its 7 nearest towns: 6 of them are older
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundee | 147,365 | — | 38.4 | 18% | 22% |
| Newport-on-Tay and Wormit | 4,119 | 2.9 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Tayport | 3,967 | 3.7 mi | 48 | 21% | 22% |
| Monifieth | 9,356 | 5.3 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 26% |
| Carnoustie | 11,373 | 9.5 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Cupar | 8,835 | 11.1 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 21% |
| St Andrews | 16,465 | 11.4 mi | 23.9 | 17% | 12% |
| Forfar | 13,774 | 11.9 mi | 48 | 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.
- “Dundee City’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Dundee City (or Scotland), summed the same way as Dundee’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 Dundee’s residents
What is the population of Dundee?
The 2022 Census counted 147,365 people in Dundee’s locality.
What is the average age in Dundee?
The median age was 38.4 at the 2022 Census, younger than 88% of UK towns. 16% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
Is Dundee a student city?
Yes: 16% of adults were full-time students at the 2022 Census (19,530 people), against 9.4% across Scotland’s towns.
How diverse is Dundee?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 83% across Dundee City’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dundee?
55% said they had no religion and 33% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 4.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Dundee good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Dundee’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.