Photo: Yoostar · CC BY-SA 3.047% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 97% of UK towns
34% of households are one person living alone (Scotland’s towns: 38%). Glenrothes has more households without a car or van than 84% of UK towns, at 23%. In 2021, the Census found 37,466 residents here, living in 16,815 households. The share of unpaid carers stands at 13%.
What the Census says about Glenrothes’s people
More with no religion than most
64% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 28% Christian, against 51% and 39% across Scotland’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.7% of residents. With a median age of 44.6, Glenrothes is older than just over half of UK towns. Against that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. In Newport-on-Tay and Wormit, the oldest of Fife’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Glenrothes, 44.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Glenrothes: 5.7% of adults are full-time students, above 80% of UK towns
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 28% of Glenrothes’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 31%, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, full-time students come to 9.4%.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Glenrothes households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 79% of UK towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2%, against 3.5% across Scotland’s towns. Households with dependent children: a quarter of the total.
Households in detached houses: 21%, a lower share than 70% 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
10% of households live in a flat or apartment. As a reference point, 18% of households live in a detached house across Scotland’s towns.
97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 62% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). The usual figure: 94% of residents have English as their main language across Scotland’s towns. Set against 11% across Scotland’s towns, 5.9% of residents were born outside the UK in Glenrothes.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns, at 64%
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 Glenrothes · Fife’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
1.2% of residents are Muslim. Set beside that, just over half of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 28% here, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. At the same time, the figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 93% in Glenrothes and 86% across Scotland’s towns.
Below 64% of UK towns: 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns, against 34% in Glenrothes. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 42%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 22% of adults in Glenrothes (Scotland’s towns: 32%), and no qualification by 18% (Scotland’s towns: 17%).
Among 197 UK towns of 26,000 to 51,000 people, the 37th oldest
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 Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Glenrothes in age: Waterlooville (44.4), Urmston (44.5), Billericay (44.7) and Neath (44.8).
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Glenrothes
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenrothes | 37,466 | — | 44.6 | 21% | 25% |
| Leslie | 2,888 | 1.5 mi | 47.1 | 23% | 23% |
| Cardenden and Auchterderran | 5,266 | 4.7 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 27% |
| Kirkcaldy and Dysart | 51,135 | 4.9 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 24% |
| Kennoway | 4,665 | 5.2 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 25% |
| Buckhaven | 4,413 | 5.7 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 23% |
| Methil | 10,712 | 5.9 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 23% |
| Ballingry | 5,823 | 6 mi | 40.8 | 18% | 29% |
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 Glenrothes’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 Glenrothes’s residents
What is the population of Glenrothes?
The 2022 Census counted 37,466 people in Glenrothes’s locality.
What is the average age in Glenrothes?
The median age was 44.6 at the 2022 Census, older than 51% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Glenrothes?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Fife’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Glenrothes?
64% said they had no religion and 28% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Glenrothes good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Glenrothes’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.