Photo: Linda Bailey · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 38.1: Cookstown is younger than 89% of towns in England and Wales
Nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across Northern Ireland’s towns the figure is 41%. Households with dependent children: nearly a third of the total. Higher than in 66% of towns in England and Wales: 24% of households live in a terraced house. Cookstown counted 12,546 residents and 5,011 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Cookstown’s people
More born abroad than most towns
17% 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 (2.5%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Cookstown’s residents are under 38.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical town in England and Wales. 11% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: NISRA Census 2021 (data zones summed to the settlement).
Below 87% of towns in England and Wales: 16% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 35–39: 7.8% of residents. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 85% of towns in England and Wales: 11%. For comparison, 17% of residents are 65 or over across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Cookstown, 38.1. 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.
Full-time students make up 6.6% in Cookstown, more than in 89% of towns in England and Wales
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%.
In Cookstown, just over a fifth of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 38% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Northern Ireland’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across Northern Ireland’s towns is 8.3%. Residents who moved in within the year account for 8.1%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Cookstown households average 2.5 people, larger than in 85% of towns in England and Wales
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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 2.7% here is much the same as across Northern Ireland’s towns. One-person households account for 31%.
Cookstown: 21% of households have no car or van, above 76% 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
Compared with 24% across Northern Ireland’s towns, nearly a third of households live in a detached house here. Across Northern Ireland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 25%. The census found that 9.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in Cookstown.
More residents born outside the UK than 90% of towns in England and Wales: 17%
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
Residents whose main language is English make up 87%, against 94% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (13%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.5%). Across Northern Ireland’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 10%.
Fewer residents with no religion than 99% of towns in England and Wales: 14%
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: 94% of Cookstown · Mid Ulster’s towns 91% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White, are African (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.6%). 84% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 99% of towns in England and Wales. Typically, just over a fifth of residents said they have no religion across Northern Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of married adults and civil partners than 81% of towns in England and Wales, at 43%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 460 residents. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 11% here, more than in 91% of towns in England and Wales. Set beside that, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
24% of Cookstown’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; 32% have none (25%). The highest qualification of 14% is A levels, often students still at university.
383 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000 people: this is the 25th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Cookstown in age: Chadwell St Mary (37.4), South Merstham (37.5), Mildenhall (38.2) and Burton Latimer (38.4).
Every neighbour of Cookstown has a younger population
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookstown | 12,546 | — | 38.1 | 16% | 32% |
| Coalisland | 5,468 | 7.5 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 37% |
| Magherafelt | 8,996 | 9.4 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 31% |
| Dungannon | 16,282 | 9.7 mi | 36.4 | 13% | 36% |
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 Cookstown’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 Cookstown’s residents
What is the population of Cookstown?
The 2021 Census counted 12,546 people in Cookstown’s settlement.
What is the average age in Cookstown?
The median age was 38.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of towns in England and Wales. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cookstown?
94% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 91% across Mid Ulster’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cookstown?
14% said they had no religion and 84% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 1.6% didn’t answer.
Is Cookstown good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Cookstown’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.