Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0St Andrews is younger than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 23.9
24% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 42% across Scotland’s towns. Still, households without a car or van are more common here than in 98% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 16,465 residents and 5,720 households in St Andrews. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: just over a third of the total.
What the Census says about St Andrews’s people
A student town
The 2022 Census counted 8,706 full-time students aged 16 and over, 57% of adults, against 9.4% across Scotland’s towns: more than in 99% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 51% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of St Andrews’s residents are under 23.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 51% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Fife
30% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8.4% across Fife’s towns and 11% across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (12%) and in the Middle East and Asia (8.1%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
31% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2022 Census, more than in 93% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (17%), Chinese (4.3%) and Mixed or multiple (3.2%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
51% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 20–24: 32% of residents, 4.7 times the share across Scotland’s towns. In St Andrews, 17% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ St Andrews, 23.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 79 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
In St Andrews, 57% of adults are full-time students, more than in 99% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Leave the students aside and St Andrews’s other adults differ from Scotland’s: 47% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. 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.
St Andrews ranks below 99% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 12%
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.
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Scotland’s towns, 2.1. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 24%. The census found that a quarter of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in St Andrews. The town has more one-person households than 83% of UK towns, at 34%.
37% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 98% 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
By its share of households in detached houses (23%), St Andrews is below 67% of UK towns. Households in flats make up 39% across Scotland’s towns. Here, 16% of households live in a terraced house.
In St Andrews, 30% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 98% 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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Here 90% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 94%. The usual figure: 11% of residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns.
69% of residents describe themselves as White British, below 93% 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: 69% of St Andrews · Fife’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (17%), Chinese (4.3%) and Mixed or multiple (3.2%). As a reference point, 86% of residents describe themselves as White British across Scotland’s towns. St Andrews has more residents with no religion than 96% of UK towns, at 52%.
67% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
214 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. The usual figure: 40% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 7.1%, fewer than in 96% of UK towns.
37% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 37% of St Andrews’s adults, against 32% across Scotland’s towns; 6.2% have no qualification (17%). For 33%, Highers are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
Among 323 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, the 1st 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 St Andrews (23.9), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to St Andrews in age: Aberystwyth (25) and Bangor (26.4).
Every neighbour of St Andrews has an older population
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Andrews | 16,465 | — | 23.9 | 17% | 12% |
| Cupar | 8,835 | 8.2 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 21% |
| Tayport | 3,967 | 8.2 mi | 48 | 21% | 22% |
| Anstruther | 3,943 | 8.7 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 22% |
| Newport-on-Tay and Wormit | 4,119 | 8.9 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Monifieth | 9,356 | 10.3 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 26% |
| Dundee | 147,365 | 11.4 mi | 38.4 | 18% | 22% |
| Carnoustie | 11,373 | 11.9 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 24% |
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 St Andrews’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 St Andrews’s residents
What is the population of St Andrews?
The 2022 Census counted 16,465 people in St Andrews’s locality.
What is the average age in St Andrews?
The median age was 23.9 at the 2022 Census, younger than 99% of UK towns. 51% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
Is St Andrews a student town?
Yes: 57% of adults were full-time students at the 2022 Census (8,706 people), against 9.4% across Scotland’s towns.
How diverse is St Andrews?
69% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Fife’s towns. 30% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Andrews?
52% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.4% were Muslim and 8.7% didn’t answer.
Is St Andrews good for families?
12% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on St Andrews’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.