Photo: Paul McIlroy · CC BY-SA 2.0Kelty: 65% of residents said they have no religion, above 99% of UK towns
The share of households in flats is 31%, against 39% across Scotland’s towns. At 34%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 83% of UK towns. Kelty’s 3,127 households held 6,898 residents at the 2022 Census. In Kelty, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van.
What the Census says about Kelty’s people
More with no religion than most
65% 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).
Younger than 61% of UK towns: half of Kelty is under 43.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
Residents aged 65 and over: 20% here and 19% across Scotland’s towns. 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kelty, 43.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
In Kelty, 4.8% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 51% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
In Kelty, just over a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. The usual figure: nearly one in ten adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Kelty households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 81% 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.
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 24%; Kelty has 26%. Add to that, at 2.3%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in just over half of UK towns.
Kelty sits below 56% of UK towns for households in detached houses (27%)
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
Kelty has more households in terraced houses than 51% of UK towns, at 20%. As a reference point, 18% of households live in a detached house across Scotland’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 80% of UK towns: 3.8%
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 13% of residents born abroad, beside 34% across Scotland’s towns. More residents whose main language is English than in 63% of UK towns: 98%. Elsewhere, 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 (1.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
28% describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 99% 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: 96% of Kelty · Fife’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 96% in Kelty and 86% across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.4%) and Pakistani (0.4%). The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 39% across Scotland’s towns.
Married adults and civil partners: 45%, a lower share than 72% of UK towns
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
Set against 40% across Scotland’s towns, 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Kelty. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 13% here, more than in 99% of UK towns. On average, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. For 266 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 20%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 20% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 21% hold no qualification (17%).
Among 474 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people, the 150th youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Red Lodge is the youngest (30.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Kelty in age: Bagshot (43.1), Holywell (43.1), Thornton (43.2) and Peasedown St John (43.2).
Nearby, 5 of 7 towns have older populations than Kelty
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelty | 6,898 | — | 43.1 | 20% | 26% |
| Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans | 11,979 | 2.1 mi | 43.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Ballingry | 5,823 | 2.9 mi | 40.8 | 18% | 29% |
| Lochgelly | 7,157 | 2.9 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 22% |
| Crossgates | 2,993 | 3.6 mi | 45 | 20% | 27% |
| Cardenden and Auchterderran | 5,266 | 4.8 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 27% |
| Dunfermline | 56,053 | 5 mi | 41.3 | 17% | 28% |
| Kinross | 5,611 | 5.4 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Fife’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Fife (or Scotland), summed the same way as Kelty’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 Kelty’s residents
What is the population of Kelty?
The 2022 Census counted 6,898 people in Kelty’s locality.
What is the average age in Kelty?
The median age was 43.1 at the 2022 Census, younger than 61% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kelty?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Fife’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kelty?
65% said they had no religion and 28% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Kelty good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Kelty’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.