Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 92% of UK towns: half of Carleton is over 52.2
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British in Carleton. 4,793 residents in 2,166 households: that is Carleton at the 2021 Census. Here, 4.2% of households live in a flat or apartment. At 10%, the share of households without a car or van is lower than in just over four fifths of UK towns.
What the Census says about Carleton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Carleton’s residents are under 52.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
534 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Carleton ranks above 87% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Carleton, 52.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Carleton, 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 87% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Full-time students: 5.3%, above 70% of UK towns. To put it in context, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
24% of households have dependent children, below 82% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Lancashire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Where 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, Carleton has 2.2%. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. For Carleton, the census puts one-person households at 28%.
Only 3.5% of households live in a terraced house in Carleton
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Where just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Carleton has 39%. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Carleton sits below 90% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.1%)
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). Carleton has more residents whose main language is English than 92% of UK towns, at 99%. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 10% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
64% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 98% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 97% of Carleton · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 31%, Carleton is behind 91% of UK towns on that count. The wider picture: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Mixed or multiple (1.2%), Other White (1%) and Indian (0.3%).
In Carleton, 24% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Against a figure of 44% across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners in Carleton comes in at 55%. Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 93% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 36%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 36% of its adults qualified to degree level, Carleton compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 13% hold no qualification (18%).
695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people: this is the 92nd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Carleton in age: West Kingsdown (52.1), Lanchester (52.2), Ravenshead (52.2) and Wirksworth (52.2).
Carleton is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 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.
- “Lancashire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Lancashire (or England), summed the same way as Carleton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to 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 Carleton’s residents
What is the population of Carleton?
The 2021 Census counted 4,793 people in Carleton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Carleton?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 8.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Carleton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Carleton?
31% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 3.9% didn’t answer.
Is Carleton good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Carleton’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the 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.