Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0One-person households make up 43% in Greenock, more than in 99% of UK towns
Just over three in five residents describe themselves as Christian, against 39% across Scotland’s towns. The 2022 Census counted 42,870 residents in 20,790 households. On the census count, 7.1% of households live in a detached house. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 38% here, fewer than in 95% of UK towns.
Greenock ranks above 80% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%
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. As a yardstick, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. Half of Greenock’s residents are over 45.5, older than in 58% of UK towns. Here 21% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 19%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Greenock, 45.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Greenock: 6.6% of adults are full-time students, above 89% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine or semi-routine work; Greenock has 25% and 32%. As a reference point, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2 people, below 97% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Inverclyde’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 3.5%; Greenock has 1.7%. Locally, 23% of households have dependent children.
More households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 50%
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
Households without a car or van make up 36%, against 29% across Scotland’s towns. Across Greenock, 17% of households live in a terraced house. Elsewhere, nearly two in five households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 82% of UK towns, at 3.7%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). On average, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 64% of UK towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 30% of residents born abroad, beside 34% across Scotland’s towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 90% of UK towns, at 32%
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: 95% of Greenock · Inverclyde’s towns 96% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 86% across Scotland’s towns, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British in Greenock. Measured more widely, just over half of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.4%).
Unpaid carers: 14%, a higher share than 99% 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
Just over two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (Scotland’s towns: 40%). Set beside that, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care across Scotland’s towns. For 1,694 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
20% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 20% of adults in Greenock, 32% across Scotland’s towns; 23% have no qualification, against 17%. The highest qualification of 10% is A levels, often students still at university.
26th oldest of 166 UK towns of 30,000 to 58,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Greenock in age: Congleton (45.4), Rayleigh (45.5), Crosby (45.7) and Sedgley (45.7).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Greenock
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenock | 42,870 | — | 45.5 | 21% | 23% |
| Gourock | 10,072 | 2.1 mi | 52 | 27% | 18% |
| Port Glasgow | 14,260 | 4.2 mi | 45.1 | 22% | 24% |
| Inverkip | 3,542 | 4.4 mi | 46.1 | 17% | 30% |
| Helensburgh | 14,128 | 4.6 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 22% |
| Dunoon | 7,982 | 5.9 mi | 51.7 | 29% | 19% |
| Kilmacolm | 3,876 | 6.6 mi | 53.3 | 31% | 23% |
| Alexandria | 6,260 | 8.1 mi | 50 | 25% | 19% |
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.
- “Inverclyde’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Inverclyde (or Scotland), summed the same way as Greenock’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 Greenock’s residents
What is the population of Greenock?
The 2022 Census counted 42,870 people in Greenock’s locality.
What is the average age in Greenock?
The median age was 45.5 at the 2022 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Greenock?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 96% across Inverclyde’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Greenock?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Greenock good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Greenock’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.