Cambusnethan, Kirk Road, Cambusnethan Old Parish Church (Church of Scotland) Including Church Hall, Vestry and Session House, War Memorial, Boundary Wall, Gatepiers, Gates and Railings · Photo: Jim Smillie · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats make up 29% in Wishaw, more than in 94% of UK towns
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.1 across Scotland’s towns. Wishaw’s 13,986 households held 30,190 residents at the 2022 Census. Households in terraced houses account for 28%. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 99% of UK towns.
12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.9% of residents. Wishaw has fewer residents aged 65 and over than 69% of UK towns, at 19%. In Chryston, the oldest of North Lanarkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 22%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wishaw, 43.3. 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.
6.3% of adults are full-time students, a share 87% of UK towns don’t reach
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs take in a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 30% (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). As a reference point, nearly one in ten adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Above 97% of UK towns: 38% of households are one person living alone
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.
Compared with 24% across Scotland’s towns, a quarter of households have dependent children here. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.1%.
Wishaw ranks below 86% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 14%
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
The share of households without a car or van tops 95% of UK towns: 30%. 29% of households live in a flat, more than in 94% of UK towns; 14% in a detached house, against 18% across Scotland’s towns.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 60% of UK towns: 5.5%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Residents whose main language is English are rarer here than in 68% of UK towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 18% of that group, against 34% across Scotland’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 72% of UK towns: 53%
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 Wishaw · North Lanarkshire’s towns 92% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
1.7% of residents are Muslim. By way of comparison, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 64% of UK towns. Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 86%; Wishaw has 92%.
Below 89% of UK towns: 41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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 40% across Scotland’s towns, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Wishaw. Married adults and civil partners: 42% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 21% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 21% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 23% hold no qualification (17%). A levels top the qualifications of 10%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
90th oldest of 234 UK towns of 21,000 to 41,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Egham (31.1) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Wishaw in age: Harpenden (43.2), Newton Abbot (43.2), Arnold (43.4) and Jarrow (43.5).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Wishaw
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wishaw | 30,190 | — | 43.3 | 19% | 25% |
| Cleland | 3,043 | 1.8 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 27% |
| Newmains | 5,364 | 2 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 27% |
| Carfin | 4,427 | 2.3 mi | 34.4 | 7.9% | 39% |
| Law | 3,293 | 2.5 mi | 44.2 | 19% | 24% |
| Motherwell | 33,021 | 2.7 mi | 42 | 18% | 26% |
| Newarthill | 6,956 | 2.8 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 29% |
| New Stevenston | 6,298 | 3.2 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 Wishaw’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 Wishaw’s residents
What is the population of Wishaw?
The 2022 Census counted 30,190 people in Wishaw’s locality.
What is the average age in Wishaw?
The median age was 43.3 at the 2022 Census, younger than 59% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wishaw?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 92% across North Lanarkshire’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wishaw?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Wishaw good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Wishaw’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.