Photo: Jd2207 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Plains is younger than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 36.5
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 40%; Plains has 43%. The town’s 1,315 households held 3,122 residents at the 2022 Census. In Plains, 25% of households have no car or van. Lower than in 86% of UK towns: 34% of residents said they have no religion.
What the Census says about Plains’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Plains’s residents are under 36.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 14% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
Residents aged 65 and over: 13%, a lower share than 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The largest age band is 15–19: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Scotland’s towns. In Chryston, the oldest of North Lanarkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 22%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Plains, 36.5. 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 Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Plains ranks above 91% of UK towns on full-time students: 7%
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine or semi-routine work; Plains has 24% and 32%. 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.
32% of households have dependent children, a share 83% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
Set against 38% across Scotland’s towns, 32% of households are one person living alone in Plains. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.8%. Households with dependent children: 24% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
A larger share of households in flats than 89% of UK towns: 24%
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
Households in detached houses: 25%, below just over three fifths of UK towns. The benchmark for households in flats across Scotland’s towns: 39%. Across Plains, 32% of households live in a terraced house.
96% of residents have English as their main language, below 72% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4%), then in Africa (1.3%). For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across Scotland’s towns is 94%. Since 2017: 20% of those born abroad, against 34% across Scotland’s towns.
Plains: 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 92% 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 Plains · North Lanarkshire’s towns 92% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (4.3%), African (1.4%) and Mixed or multiple (1.1%). For comparison, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. Set against 86% across Scotland’s towns, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British in Plains.
Married adults and civil partners make up 39% in Plains, less than in 92% 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
128 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 14% here, more than in 99% of UK towns. On average, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 20%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Plains’s adults: 20% with a degree-level qualification and 26% with none, against 32% and 17% across Scotland’s towns. For 10%, Highers are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
Among 515 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people, the 26th youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest West Chiltington (63.1). Nearest to Plains in age: Dunton Green (36.3), Gamesley (36.5), Cranwell (37.2) and Fradley (37.2).
Plains is younger than every town around it
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plains | 3,122 | — | 36.5 | 13% | 32% |
| Airdrie | 35,847 | 1.9 mi | 43 | 19% | 26% |
| Chapelhall | 7,061 | 3 mi | 39.9 | 14% | 34% |
| Coatbridge | 42,256 | 4.2 mi | 42.6 | 17% | 26% |
| Holytown | 5,121 | 4.6 mi | 41.4 | 17% | 25% |
| Glenboig | 3,035 | 4.7 mi | 39.5 | 13% | 33% |
| Newarthill | 6,956 | 4.8 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 29% |
| New Stevenston | 6,298 | 5.2 mi | 38.2 | 10% | 35% |
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 Plains’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 Plains’s residents
What is the population of Plains?
The 2022 Census counted 3,122 people in Plains’s locality.
What is the average age in Plains?
The median age was 36.5 at the 2022 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Plains?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 92% across North Lanarkshire’s towns. 6.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Plains?
34% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Plains good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Plains’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.