Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0One-person households make up 38% in Bedale, more than in 96% of UK towns
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. By contrast, residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 94% of UK towns. Bedale is home to 3,289 residents in 1,541 households, by the 2021 Census. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 14% here.
What the Census says about Bedale’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bedale’s residents are under 50.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 27% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
In 13 years, Bedale grew 7%, more slowly than England’s 10%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bedale’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,900 people in 2011; 3,100 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2020 to mid-2021, 100 people. Bedale grew faster than 50% of UK towns from 2011 to 2024, changing by +7%.
A median age of 50.1: Bedale is older than 85% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 tops three fifths of UK towns: 10%. For Bedale, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bedale, 50.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
4.4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 70% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s 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%.
In Bedale, 31% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 28% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. At 12%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is higher than in 91% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
Fewer households with dependent children than 91% of UK towns: 21%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against North Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Bedale comes in at 2.1%. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
More detached houses than 62% of UK towns: 34% of households
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
The share of households in flats is 9.5%, against 23% across England’s towns. Typically, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households without a car or van account for 16%.
Bedale ranks above 55% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 8.4%. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.1%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 6.3%, fewer than in 50% of UK towns.
Below 86% of UK towns: 34% of residents said they have no religion
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 95% of Bedale · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Bedale, 95%. On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Chinese (0.2%).
29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 71% of UK towns
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
92 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 46%, fewer than in 62% of UK towns. Unpaid carers make up 8.3%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
17% of Bedale’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 30% have one at degree level (34%).
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 137th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Keele is the youngest (20.6); West Chiltington the oldest (63.1). Nearest to Bedale in age: Thorngumbald (50), Smallfield (50), Tarporley (50.1) and Eccleshall (50.1).
Of the 7 towns nearest Bedale, 2 are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedale | 3,289 | — | 50.1 | 27% | 21% |
| Aiskew | 1,759 | 0.6 mi | 47.2 | 21% | 28% |
| Leeming Bar | 1,063 | 1.8 mi | 43.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Leeming | 1,712 | 2.8 mi | 29.1 | 8.5% | 40% |
| Masham | 1,112 | 5.3 mi | 56.4 | 36% | 18% |
| Catterick | 2,718 | 6.4 mi | 37.9 | 20% | 27% |
| Romanby | 3,825 | 6.6 mi | 52.4 | 30% | 22% |
| Northallerton | 13,314 | 7.5 mi | 47 | 25% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “North Yorkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in North Yorkshire (or England), summed the same way as Bedale’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Bedale’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,041 people in 2021, against 3,289 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS 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 Bedale’s residents
What is the population of Bedale?
The 2021 Census counted 3,289 people in Bedale’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,100 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bedale?
The median age was 50.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 85% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bedale?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bedale?
34% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Bedale good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bedale’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the 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.