Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0Brightons sits above 98% of UK towns for residents with no religion (56%)
With shared households of unrelated adults at 0.8%, Brightons is behind 99% of UK towns on that count. For Brightons, the census puts households without a car or van at 11%. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 38% here, more than in 72% of UK towns. The town had 4,048 residents in 1,674 households at the 2022 Census.
Brightons ranks above 94% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 13%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
45–49 is the most common age band: 7.3% of residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. The median age in Brightons is 45.6, higher than in 58% of UK towns. In Polmont, the oldest of Falkirk’s towns by this measure, it is 29%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brightons, 45.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Brightons sits above 76% of UK towns for full-time students (5.6%)
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs take in 39% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 22% (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). Across the comparison, 9.4% of 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.
In Brightons, 29% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 59% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Falkirk’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
28% of households have dependent children (Scotland’s towns: 24%). Measured more widely, 38% of households are one person living alone across Scotland’s towns. On average, 2.3 people share a household.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 70% of UK towns: 16%
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 Brightons, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house across Scotland’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 5%, a lower share than 64% of UK towns
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 largest groups were born in EU countries (2.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Set beside that, 11% of residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. Higher than in 53% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language. Of residents born abroad, 14% arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns.
In Brightons, 38% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 95% 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: 94% of Brightons · Falkirk’s towns 92% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Pakistani (0.9%). As a reference point, nearly two in five residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. At 94%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in 62% of UK towns.
Brightons ranks above 99% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 13%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 92 residents. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 12% across Scotland’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Here a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 40%.
33% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Brightons’s adults: 33% with a degree-level qualification and 13% with none, against 32% and 17% across Scotland’s towns.
531 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people: this is the 224th youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Milford on Sea the oldest (64.6). Nearest to Brightons in age: Pinchbeck (45.6), Kings Worthy (45.6), Winterton (45.7) and Moira (45.7).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Brightons
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightons | 4,048 | — | 45.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Polmont | 5,044 | 0.7 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 19% |
| Redding | 3,812 | 1 mi | 37.2 | 14% | 36% |
| Maddiston | 3,835 | 1 mi | 36.2 | 12% | 38% |
| Grangemouth | 16,028 | 2 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 20% |
| Hallglen | 3,158 | 2.2 mi | 38.7 | 16% | 28% |
| Falkirk | 34,637 | 3.2 mi | 44.7 | 20% | 21% |
| Carronshore | 2,880 | 4.1 mi | 41.2 | 15% | 28% |
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.
- “Falkirk’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Falkirk (or Scotland), summed the same way as Brightons’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 Brightons’s residents
What is the population of Brightons?
The 2022 Census counted 4,048 people in Brightons’s locality.
What is the average age in Brightons?
The median age was 45.6 at the 2022 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brightons?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 92% across Falkirk’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brightons?
56% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Brightons good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Brightons’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.