Photo: Jim G · CC BY-SA 2.0More households without a car or van than 98% of UK towns: 33%
7.4% of households live in a detached house; across Scotland’s towns the figure is 18%. Census day 2021: 19,488 residents and 9,239 households in Bellshill. Locally, 40% of households are one person living alone. The town has more unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns, at 14%.
In Bellshill, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
With a median age of 43.9, Bellshill is younger than 55% of UK towns. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with nearly one in ten residents. In Chryston, the oldest of North Lanarkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 22%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bellshill, 43.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.6%, a higher share than 89% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
By class, 22% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). Full-time students make up 9.4% across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 94% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against North Lanarkshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
At 24%, the share of households with dependent children is in line with the figure across Scotland’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 72% of UK towns.
Households in flats make up 34% in Bellshill, more than in 97% of UK towns
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
35% of households live in a terraced house, against 19% across Scotland’s towns. To put it in context, 39% of households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 5.1%, a lower share than 63% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are a quarter of those born abroad (against 34% across Scotland’s towns). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns: 11%. Locally, 97% of residents have English as their main language.
Bellshill sits above 64% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (52%)
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 Bellshill · North Lanarkshire’s towns 92% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 2.4% of residents. At 39%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 62% of UK towns. Still, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British (Scotland’s towns: 86%).
39% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 93% of UK towns
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 849. As a reference point, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. 41% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a higher share than in 92% of UK towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 16%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
26% of Bellshill’s adults have no qualification (17% across Scotland’s towns), and 16% have one at degree level (32%). Highers are the highest qualification of 10%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
147th youngest of 296 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Bellshill in age: Hale (43.9), Frimley (43.9), Newton Aycliffe (44) and Clitheroe (44).
Bellshill is younger than 2 of its 7 nearest neighbours
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellshill | 19,488 | — | 43.9 | 19% | 24% |
| New Stevenston | 6,298 | 1.7 mi | 38.2 | 10% | 35% |
| Holytown | 5,121 | 1.7 mi | 41.4 | 17% | 25% |
| Viewpark | 15,832 | 2 mi | 43 | 18% | 27% |
| Bothwell | 7,002 | 2.2 mi | 48 | 25% | 24% |
| Motherwell | 33,021 | 2.2 mi | 42 | 18% | 26% |
| Carfin | 4,427 | 2.5 mi | 34.4 | 7.9% | 39% |
| Uddingston | 6,181 | 2.5 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in term time. 20 March 2022 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.
- “North Lanarkshire’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in North Lanarkshire (or Scotland), summed the same way as Bellshill’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 Bellshill’s residents
What is the population of Bellshill?
The 2022 Census counted 19,488 people in Bellshill’s locality.
What is the average age in Bellshill?
The median age was 43.9 at the 2022 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bellshill?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 92% across North Lanarkshire’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bellshill?
39% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Bellshill good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Bellshill’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.