Photo: Emoscopes · CC BY-SA 3.0Above 97% of UK towns: 48% of households live in a terraced house
18% of households live in a detached house across Scotland’s towns, against 12% in Rosyth. Here, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The median age here is 41.5, lower than in 72% of UK towns. There were 5,896 households locally at the 2022 Census, home to 13,309 residents.
What the Census says about Rosyth’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).
17% of residents are 65 or over, below 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.6% of residents. Rosyth has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 81% of UK towns, at 11%. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over 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+
■ Rosyth, 41.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
5% of adults are full-time students, a share 60% of UK towns don’t reach
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine or semi-routine work; Rosyth has 27% and 33%. For full-time students, the comparison across Scotland’s towns is 9.4%.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 71% 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 one-person households is 38%; Rosyth has 32%. Locally, 27% of households have dependent children. Few places have as many shared households of unrelated adults: 2.5% here, more than in nearly three fifths of UK towns.
In Rosyth, 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
Against a figure of 39% across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in flats in Rosyth comes in at 19%. The usual figure: 29% of households have no car or van across Scotland’s towns.
7.9% born outside the UK, more than in 63% 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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 73% of UK towns: 96%. Across Scotland’s towns, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK. Where just over a third of those born abroad across Scotland’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 27%.
More residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns: 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: 91% of Rosyth · Fife’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (5.3%), Pakistani (0.7%) and African (0.7%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 28%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. To put it in context, just over half of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British (Scotland’s towns: 86%).
A higher share of adults who have never married than 75% of UK towns, at 37%
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
For 414 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. More unpaid carers than in 99% of UK towns: 13%. The wider picture: two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 20% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
18% of Rosyth’s adults have no qualification (17% across Scotland’s towns), and 20% have one at degree level (32%).
407 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000 people: this is the 98th youngest
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Rosyth in age: Godalming (41.5), Rhosllannerchrugog (41.5), New Ollerton and Ollerton (41.6) and South Elmsall (41.7).
A younger town than 5 of the 7 around it: Rosyth
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosyth | 13,309 | — | 41.5 | 17% | 27% |
| Inverkeithing | 5,273 | 1.2 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 23% |
| Dunfermline | 56,053 | 2.3 mi | 41.3 | 17% | 28% |
| Dalgety Bay and Hillend | 9,452 | 2.6 mi | 50.4 | 27% | 24% |
| South Queensferry | 10,214 | 3.8 mi | 42.4 | 18% | 30% |
| Crossgates | 2,993 | 3.8 mi | 45 | 20% | 27% |
| Cairneyhill | 2,657 | 4.5 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Kirkliston | 5,607 | 5.5 mi | 39 | 15% | 41% |
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 Rosyth’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 Rosyth’s residents
What is the population of Rosyth?
The 2022 Census counted 13,309 people in Rosyth’s locality.
What is the average age in Rosyth?
The median age was 41.5 at the 2022 Census, younger than 72% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rosyth?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Fife’s towns. 7.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rosyth?
64% said they had no religion and 28% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Rosyth good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Rosyth’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.