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St Mary's Church, StowPhoto: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0
49.6Median age
Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Stow 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.

Ages

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.

StowEngland’s towns
0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

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

Under 1518%
15 to 245.4%
25 to 4422%
45 to 6428%
65 and over27%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

50% women, 50% men

Stow
England
WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

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

Full-time students3.6%
Higher managerial and professional13%
Lower managerial and professional24%
Intermediate8.6%
Small employers and self-employed17%
Supervisory and technical3.6%
Semi-routine10%
Routine9.6%
Never worked or long-term unemployed10%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Stow
15%
England’s towns
11%
Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad
Moved in within a year
55
residents, 15%; England’s towns 11%
Of them from abroad
2
0.6× England’s share

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

Households here average 2.2 people, below 73% of UK towns

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 16%Living alone, under 66 14%Families with dependent children 24%Couples and families, no young children 45%Shared houses and other 0.6%

Against Lincolnshire’s towns and England’s towns

Stow
Lincolnshire’s towns
England’s towns

People per household

1 person30%
2 people42%
3 people13%
4 people9%
5 or more6%

England’s towns.

One-person households: 31% of the total.

Homes & cars

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

Stow
Lincolnshire’s towns
England’s towns
DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van9.1%
One45%
Two31%
Three or more15%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns

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.

Where people were born

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%

Stow
5.4%
Lincolnshire’s towns
9.9%
England’s towns
18%
EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language99%
Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.6%
Another main language, little or no English0%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns

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.

Ethnicity & religion

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

StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns
Other White1.6%
Asian0%
Mixed0.8%
Black1.6%
Other0.8%
0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 95% of Stow · Lincolnshire’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns
No religion41%
Christian55%
Muslim0%
Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.3%
Other religion0.3%
Didn’t answer3.5%
0%35%70%

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%).

Relationships & caring

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

Never married or in a civil partnership27%
Married or civil partnership56%
Separated2.6%
Divorced8.2%
Widowed6.3%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns
39residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 11%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week6%
20 to 49 hours1.4%
50 hours or more3.7%

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%.

Qualifications

Degree level: the highest qualification of 32% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications18%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar16%
Degree level32%
StowLincolnshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Degree-level qualifications are held by 32% of adults in Stow (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 18% (England’s towns: 18%).

Neighbours

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.

Sturton by StowSaxilbyLeaNorth Leverton with HabblesthorpeGainsboroughSkellingthorpeBeckinghamStow
under 3838–4444–5050–5656+
TownPeopleAwayMedian age65+Homes with children
Stow369—49.627%24%
Sturton by Stow1,4851 mi50.227%24%
Saxilby4,4324 mi50.528%23%
Lea1,0064.5 mi55.534%17%
North Leverton with Habblesthorpe1,0796.1 mi48.223%27%
Gainsborough21,8996.5 mi39.618%28%
Skellingthorpe3,1167 mi53.931%21%
Beckingham1,2078.1 mi51.333%25%
More about Stow’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

How to read these numbers

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.