Photo: thejackrustles · CC BY-SA 2.021% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Scotland’s towns, 2.1. Here, 24% of households live in a flat or apartment. On residents with no religion, Cupar sits higher than 97% of UK towns: 53%. At the 2022 Census, 8,835 people lived locally, in 4,239 households.
Half of Cupar is over 48.9, older than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.7% of residents. 27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 80% of UK towns. Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one in ten residents, against 12% across Scotland’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cupar, 48.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Cupar ranks above 84% of UK towns on full-time students: 6%
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs account for 38% of Cupar’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 25%, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of full-time students is 9.4%.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A higher share of one-person households than 98% of UK towns, at 39%
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Fife’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Cupar has more shared households of unrelated adults than 50% of UK towns, at 2.3%. Measured more widely, 38% of households are one person living alone across Scotland’s towns.
In Cupar, 23% of households have no car or van, more than in 82% 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
Across Scotland’s towns, 18% of households live in a detached house; in Cupar, 33%. About one household in 4 lives without a car or van. Few places have so few households in terraced houses: 13% here, fewer than in 78% of UK towns.
Cupar: 9% of residents were born outside the UK, above 69% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.6%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%). Lower than in 66% of UK towns: 97% of residents have English as their main language. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. Nearly a quarter of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 34% across Scotland’s towns.
Only 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Cupar
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: 91% of Cupar · Fife’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 91% here and 86% across Scotland’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (6%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and African (0.5%).
Cupar ranks below 66% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 30%
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
At 12%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across Scotland’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 236 residents. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 53% of UK towns: 47%. Adults who have never married make up 40% across Scotland’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 38% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 12% hold no qualification (17%).
95th highest median age among 483 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Cupar in age: Bearsted (48.8), East Boldon and West Boldon (48.9), Romiley (49) and Frodsham (49).
Of the 7 towns nearest Cupar, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cupar | 8,835 | — | 48.9 | 27% | 21% |
| Kennoway | 4,665 | 7.4 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 25% |
| Leven | 10,088 | 8.1 mi | 44 | 22% | 23% |
| St Andrews | 16,465 | 8.2 mi | 23.9 | 17% | 12% |
| Newport-on-Tay and Wormit | 4,119 | 8.4 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Methil | 10,712 | 9 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 23% |
| Buckhaven | 4,413 | 9.9 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 23% |
| Tayport | 3,967 | 10.2 mi | 48 | 21% | 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.
- “Fife’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Fife (or Scotland), summed the same way as Cupar’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 Cupar’s residents
What is the population of Cupar?
The 2022 Census counted 8,835 people in Cupar’s locality.
What is the average age in Cupar?
The median age was 48.9 at the 2022 Census, older than 79% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cupar?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Fife’s towns. 9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cupar?
53% said they had no religion and 39% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Cupar good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Cupar’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.