Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0More one-person households than 99% of UK towns: 43%
In Wick the average household is 2 people, beside 2.1 across Scotland’s towns. This Highland town counted 6,905 residents and 3,405 households at the 2022 Census. Across Wick, 33% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 76% of UK towns.
In Wick, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 78% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 22%, fewer than in just over half of UK towns. Across Scotland’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Nairn, the oldest of Highland’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wick, 43.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
3.7% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
24% of Wick’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 35% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Typically, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.4%, a lower share than 94% 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.
Households with dependent children: 23% here and 24% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 3.5%.
20% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 83% of UK towns don’t reach
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
There is little gap on households without a car or van: 29%, about the same as across Scotland’s towns. The usual figure: 39% of households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns. Locally, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house.
3.1% of residents were born outside the UK, below 90% 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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up nearly a quarter of those born abroad (Scotland’s towns: 34%). On residents whose main language is English, Wick sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 98%. Elsewhere, 11% of residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
61% said they have no religion, more 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 Wick · Highland’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Indian (0.2%). The usual figure: just over half of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 96%, more than in 86% of UK towns.
Below 91% of UK towns: 40% 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
The figure for adults who have never married is 39% in Wick and 40% across Scotland’s towns. More unpaid carers than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 11%. Across the comparison, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 18%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Wick’s adults: 18% with a degree-level qualification and 26% with none, against 32% and 17% across Scotland’s towns.
Of 474 UK towns its size (5,000 to 9,000 people), the 179th 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 Wick in age: Iver Heath (43.9), Launceston (43.9), Barnton (44) and Atherstone (44).
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 Wick’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 Wick’s residents
What is the population of Wick?
The 2022 Census counted 6,905 people in Wick’s locality.
What is the average age in Wick?
The median age was 43.9 at the 2022 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wick?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Highland’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wick?
61% said they had no religion and 33% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Wick good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Wick’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.