Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 36.4: Dungannon is younger than 93% of towns in England and Wales
A household here has 2.6 people on average; across Northern Ireland’s towns, 2.3. 28% of households are one person living alone. Lower than in 85% of towns in England and Wales: 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. In 2021, the Census found 16,282 residents in Dungannon, living in 5,528 households.
What the Census says about Dungannon’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in Mid Ulster
37% 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 (22%) and in the Middle East and Asia (13%). Where people were born ↓
A town of families
36% of Dungannon’s 5,528 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 95% of towns in England and Wales. 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Dungannon’s residents are under 36.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical town in England and Wales. 12% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: NISRA Census 2021 (data zones summed to the settlement).
Only 13% of residents are 65 or over in Dungannon
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 35–39: 9.1% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Northern Ireland’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 91% of towns in England and Wales. To put it in context, 17% of residents are 65 or over across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Dungannon, 36.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 8.1%, a higher share than 94% 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%.
18% of Dungannon’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 43% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 8.3% of adults are full-time students across Northern Ireland’s towns. In Dungannon, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Dungannon, 36% of households have dependent children, more than in 95% 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.
Set against 2.8% across Northern Ireland’s towns, 3.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Dungannon. The usual figure: 29% of households have dependent children across Northern Ireland’s towns.
More households without a car or van than 93% of towns in England and Wales: 29%
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
Households in detached houses make up 27%, against 24% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 25% of households have no car or van across Northern Ireland’s towns. 13% of households live in a flat or apartment. Fewer households in terraced houses than in 53% of towns in England and Wales: 20%.
Dungannon: 37% of residents born outside the UK
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 45%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Against a figure of 94% across Northern Ireland’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Dungannon comes in at 68%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (22%) and in the Middle East and Asia (13%). To put it in context, one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Fewer residents with no religion than 99% of towns in England and Wales: 11%
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: 79% of Dungannon · Mid Ulster’s towns 91% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 1.1%. 86% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 99% of towns in England and Wales. To put it in context, 21% of residents said they have no religion across Northern Ireland’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 93% of towns in England and Wales: 42%
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. 369 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. On unpaid carers, Dungannon sits lower than 52% of towns in England and Wales: 9.3%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Dungannon’s adults, against 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns; 39% have no qualification (25%). Many of the 12% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
17th youngest of 381 UK towns of 11,000 to 22,000 people
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 Dungannon in age: Quedgeley and Hardwicke (35.9), Waltham Cross (36.4), Bentley (36.5) and Houghton Regis (36.5).
2 of the 3 nearest towns are older than Dungannon
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dungannon | 16,282 | — | 36.4 | 13% | 36% |
| Coalisland | 5,468 | 3.7 mi | 35.7 | 13% | 37% |
| Cookstown | 12,546 | 9.7 mi | 38.1 | 16% | 32% |
| Armagh | 16,310 | 11.7 mi | 37.7 | 16% | 33% |
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 Dungannon’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 Dungannon’s residents
What is the population of Dungannon?
The 2021 Census counted 16,282 people in Dungannon’s settlement.
What is the average age in Dungannon?
The median age was 36.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 93% of towns in England and Wales. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dungannon?
79% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 91% across Mid Ulster’s towns. 37% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dungannon?
11% said they had no religion and 86% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 1.5% didn’t answer.
Is Dungannon good for families?
36% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Dungannon’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.