Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Stow sits below 99% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (0.6%)
With a median age of 49.6, Stow is older than 83% of UK towns. The village counted 369 residents and 167 households at the 2021 Census. Three in five households live in a detached house. Households with dependent children: 24% here and 29% across England’s towns.
5.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The census found that 27% of residents are 65 or over in Stow.
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.
3.6% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 93% 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%.
By class, 37% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, 15% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 73% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Lincolnshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
One-person households: 31% of the total.
In Stow, 8.3% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 93% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Stow comes in at 9.1%. Lower than in 71% of UK towns: 7.1% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Stow, more than in 98% of UK towns
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.4%) and in Africa (1.6%). Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language. 5.4% of residents were born outside the UK, a lower share than in 60% of UK towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 55%, a higher share than 80% 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: 95% of Stow · Lincolnshire’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British tops 78% of UK towns: 95%. By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.6%), African (1.4%) and Mixed or multiple (0.8%).
Above 90% of UK towns: 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 13 people. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 11%, more than in 89% of UK towns. At the same time, 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 32% of adults in Stow (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 18% (England’s towns: 18%).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Stow
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stow | 369 | — | 49.6 | 27% | 24% |
| Sturton by Stow | 1,485 | 1 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 24% |
| Saxilby | 4,432 | 4 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 23% |
| Lea | 1,006 | 4.5 mi | 55.5 | 34% | 17% |
| North Leverton with Habblesthorpe | 1,079 | 6.1 mi | 48.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Gainsborough | 21,899 | 6.5 mi | 39.6 | 18% | 28% |
| Skellingthorpe | 3,116 | 7 mi | 53.9 | 31% | 21% |
| Beckingham | 1,207 | 8.1 mi | 51.3 | 33% | 25% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Lincolnshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Lincolnshire (or England), summed the same way as Stow’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 Stow’s residents
What is the population of Stow?
The 2021 Census counted 369 people in Stow’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Stow?
The median age was 49.6 at the 2021 Census. 5.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stow?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Lincolnshire’s towns. 5.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stow?
41% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 3.5% didn’t answer.
Is Stow good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Stow’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.