Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Lancaster is under 35, younger than 96% of UK towns
With households in flats at 19%, Lancaster is ahead of 81% of UK towns on that count. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 8.9% here. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in 97% of UK towns. This Lancashire town counted 52,646 residents and 21,695 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Lancaster’s people
A student town
The 2021 Census counted 8,588 full-time students aged 16 and over, 20% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 99% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 21% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Lancaster’s residents are under 35 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 21% are 15 to 24 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town people move to
14% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns, and 5.2% gave a term-time address. Students & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +12% change since 2011: Lancaster grew faster than 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lancaster’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 48,600 people in 2011; 54,400 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2021 to mid-2022: 1,060. The 65 and over age group moved most (+22%); the 0 to 15 group moved least (+5%).
Above 99% of UK towns: 21% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over in Lancaster. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lancaster, 35. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 20%, a higher share than 99% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Lancaster, 14%. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More people live alone than in 78% of UK towns: 33% of households
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.
Households in Lancaster hold 2.3 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Few places have so few households with dependent children: 25% here, fewer than in 68% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van make up 30% in Lancaster, more than in 95% of UK towns
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
38% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten households live in a detached house.
Lancaster ranks above 84% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 14%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (5.8%), then in the Middle East and Asia (4.9%). Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 92% here, fewer than in 88% of UK towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. 39% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 84% of UK towns: 81%
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: 81% of Lancaster · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (7.1%), Mixed or multiple (2.3%) and Indian (2.3%). At 45%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 78% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British. With residents with no religion at 41%, Lancaster is ahead of 53% of UK towns on that count.
In Lancaster, 50% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 98% 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
Students and young renters account for much of that. In Lancaster, 7.9% of residents give unpaid care.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 37% of its adults qualified to degree level, Lancaster compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 14% hold no qualification (18%). Many still at university: 24% list A levels as their highest qualification.
From a median age of 25 in Lancaster Central to 51 in University, Galgate & Dolphinholme
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
University, Galgate & Dolphinholme is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Lancaster Central the youngest (median age 25). Students cluster in Lancaster Central, where 46% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Scale Hall & Torrisholme (32% of households).
125 UK towns of 37,000 to 71,000 people: this is the 7th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Canterbury is the youngest (27.5); Lytham St Anne's the oldest (54.4). Nearest to Lancaster in age: Smethwick (33.7), Dewsbury (34.4), Walsall (35.3) and Keighley (36.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 6 are older than Lancaster
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 Lancaster’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Lancaster’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 53,135 people in 2021, against 52,646 in the built-up area.
- 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 Lancaster’s residents
What is the population of Lancaster?
The 2021 Census counted 52,646 people in Lancaster’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 54,400 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lancaster?
The median age was 35 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of UK towns. 21% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
Is Lancaster a student town?
Yes: 20% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (8,588 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Lancaster Central, 46% of adults were students.
How diverse is Lancaster?
81% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lancaster?
41% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4% were Muslim and 7.3% didn’t answer.
Is Lancaster good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Scale Hall & Torrisholme (32% of households). Schools are on Lancaster’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.