Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns: 62%
22% of households live in a flat or apartment; across Scotland’s towns the figure is 39%. Across Elgin, 23% of households have no car or van. With a median age of 41.2, Elgin is younger than nearly three quarters of UK towns. The 2022 Census counted 24,617 residents in 11,472 households.
What the Census says about Elgin’s people
More with no religion than most
62% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 31% Christian, against 51% and 39% across Scotland’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
Above 60% of UK towns: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
35–39 is the most common age band: 7% of residents. Lower than in 69% of UK towns: 19% of residents are 65 or over. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. In Forres, the oldest of Moray’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Elgin, 41.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
4.3% of adults are full-time students, below 74% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
In Elgin, 29% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. The usual figure: 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 88% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Moray’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
26% of households have dependent children, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. One-person households: 37% of the total. Elgin has fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 63% of UK towns, at 2.1%.
Fewer households in detached houses than 54% of UK towns: 28%
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2022. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
With households in terraced houses at 18%, Elgin is behind three fifths of UK towns on that count.
Residents born outside the UK: 7.8%, a higher share than 62% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2022.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
18% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 34% across Scotland’s towns. Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 96% here, fewer than in 68% of UK towns. Residents born outside the UK: 11% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
In Elgin, 31% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2022 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 92% of Elgin · Moray’s towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (4.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.5%). Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as White British: 92% here, fewer than in just over half of UK towns. Elsewhere, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns.
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 61% of UK towns don’t reach
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 3 and over), Census 2022.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 3 and over
Set against 42% across Scotland’s towns, 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Elgin. The town has fewer unpaid carers than 56% of UK towns, at 9.1%. Across Scotland’s towns, two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Some 527 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of adults in Elgin (Scotland’s towns: 32%), and no qualification by 17% (Scotland’s towns: 17%).
258 UK towns of 17,000 to 33,000 people: this is the 83rd youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Egham (31.1), the youngest, and Brixham (55.6), the oldest. Nearest to Elgin in age: Pontefract (41.2), Stanford-le-Hope (41.2), Staines-upon-Thames (41.3) and Keynsham (41.3).
The towns around Elgin are all older
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elgin | 24,617 | — | 41.2 | 19% | 26% |
| Lossiemouth | 6,654 | 4.8 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 24% |
| Forres | 9,290 | 11.7 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Moray’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Moray (or Scotland), summed the same way as Elgin’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. National Records of Scotland adjusts small 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 Elgin’s residents
What is the population of Elgin?
The 2022 Census counted 24,617 people in Elgin’s locality.
What is the average age in Elgin?
The median age was 41.2 at the 2022 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Elgin?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Moray’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Elgin?
62% said they had no religion and 31% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Elgin good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Elgin’s schools page.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality (UV101b, UV103, UV104, UV113, UV201, UV204b, UV205, UV212, UV301, UV402, UV405, UV406, UV501, UV607, UV801). 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.