Photo: Richard Dorrell · CC BY-SA 2.0Alness: 58% of residents said they have no religion, above 99% of UK towns
With households without a car or van at 25%, Alness is ahead of 87% of UK towns on that count. Meanwhile, half of the town’s residents are under 40.8, younger than in 76% of UK towns. At the 2022 Census, 5,940 people lived here, in 2,730 households. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 27%.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 62% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 35–39: 7.1% of residents. A fifth of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 64% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. In Nairn, the oldest of Highland’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Alness, 40.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Below 72% of UK towns: 4.3% of adults are full-time students
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 37% (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). The usual figure: nearly one in ten adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 86% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Highland’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Set against 24% across Scotland’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children in Alness. 37% of households are one person living alone. Lower than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Only 8.5% of households live in a flat or apartment in Alness
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 18% across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in detached houses in Alness comes in at 27%. Elsewhere, 39% of households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 8.5% in Alness, more than in 67% 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
13% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns. Alness has fewer residents whose main language is English than just over four fifths of UK towns, at 94%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (5.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 98% of UK towns: 34%
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: 89% of Alness · Highland’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (7.5%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Pakistani (0.3%). The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns is 39%. Nearly nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 67% of UK towns.
Adults who have never married: 38%, a higher share than 82% 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
Against a figure of 12% across Scotland’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Alness comes in at 10%. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 41% here, fewer than in 88% of UK towns. Across Scotland’s towns, adults who have never married come to 40%. 160 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree-level qualifications reach 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 19% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 24% hold no qualification (17%).
Among 625 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, the 119th 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 Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Alness in age: Grove (40.8), Abercarn (40.8), Shotton (40.9) and Warton (Fylde) (41.2).
Alness is younger than every town around it
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alness | 5,940 | — | 40.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Invergordon | 3,801 | 3.1 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 23% |
| Dingwall | 5,274 | 9.3 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 22% |
| Tain | 3,544 | 10.5 mi | 44.8 | 24% | 25% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Highland’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Highland (or Scotland), summed the same way as Alness’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 Alness’s residents
What is the population of Alness?
The 2022 Census counted 5,940 people in Alness’s locality.
What is the average age in Alness?
The median age was 40.8 at the 2022 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Alness?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Highland’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Alness?
58% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Alness good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Alness’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.