Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 95% of towns in England and Wales: half of Coalisland is under 35.7
Just over two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Northern Ireland’s towns, against 45% in Coalisland. This Mid Ulster town is home to 5,468 residents in 2,298 households, by the 2021 Census. The share of households without a car or van stands at 19%. Fewer households in flats than in 79% of towns in England and Wales: 5.8%.
What the Census says about Coalisland’s people
A town of families
37% of Coalisland’s 2,298 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 96% of towns in England and Wales and the highest share in Mid Ulster. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Coalisland’s residents are under 35.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical town in England and Wales. 13% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More born abroad than most towns
15% of residents were born outside the UK, against 22% across Mid Ulster’s towns and 10% across Northern Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (13%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). Where people were born ↓
Written from the data on this page: NISRA Census 2021 (data zones summed to the settlement).
Only 13% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 93% of towns in England and Wales
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13%, above 95% of towns in England and Wales. By way of comparison, 17% of residents are 65 or over across Northern Ireland’s towns. No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.7% of residents.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Coalisland, 35.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.
A student town: 7.9% of adults study full-time
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the 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 Northern Ireland’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Coalisland has 20% and 33%. Full-time students make up 8.3% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 7.8% here.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
37% of households have dependent children, a share 96% of towns in England and Wales don’t reach
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Mid Ulster’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
People per household
Northern Ireland’s towns.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 1.6%, against 2.8% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Across Northern Ireland’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children. Households average 2.5 people.
22% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 56% of towns in England and Wales
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
Here 23% of households live in a detached house, where the figure across Northern Ireland’s towns is 24%. Set beside that, 29% of households live in a terraced house across Northern Ireland’s towns.
88% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 95% of towns in England and Wales
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 share of residents born outside the UK is 15%, against 10% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (13%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across Northern Ireland’s towns: 94%.
In Coalisland, 7.3% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% of towns in England and Wales
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White · all residents
White, not charted: 98% of Coalisland · Mid Ulster’s towns 91% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
98% of residents describe themselves as White, against 91% across Mid Ulster’s towns and 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Here, nearly nine in ten residents describe themselves as Christian. By way of comparison, 21% of residents said they have no religion across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Fewer married adults and civil partners than 97% of towns in England and Wales: 36%
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
12% of residents give unpaid care across Northern Ireland’s towns, against 11% in Coalisland. Set beside that, 41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Northern Ireland’s towns.
25% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 25% of adults in Coalisland, 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; 31% have no qualification, against 25%. The highest qualification of 15% is A levels, often students still at university.
Ranked by age, 29th youngest of 517 UK towns this size
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 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Coalisland in age: Marston Moretaine (35.5), Stone (35.7), Easington Lane (35.8) and Backworth (36).
The towns around Coalisland are all older
Nearby towns 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.
- “Mid Ulster’s towns” and “Northern Ireland’s towns” mean their settlements. Census comparisons pool every town in Mid Ulster (or Northern Ireland), summed the same way as Coalisland’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. NISRA 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 Coalisland’s residents
What is the population of Coalisland?
The 2021 Census counted 5,468 people in Coalisland’s settlement.
What is the average age in Coalisland?
The median age was 35.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 95% of towns in England and Wales. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Coalisland?
98% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 91% across Mid Ulster’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Coalisland?
7.3% said they had no religion and 89% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 3.2% didn’t answer.
Is Coalisland good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Coalisland’s schools page.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 (Flexible Table Builder), data zones summed to NISRA’s Settlement Development Limits 2015 (household composition by super data zone; women and men from whole data zones, which approximate the town’s boundary). 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.