Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0In Cowling, 60% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 99% of UK towns
In Cowling, 8.9% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. By contrast, households with dependent children are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. The village had 1,439 residents and 613 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 38. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 96% in the village.
What the Census says about Cowling’s people
More with no religion than most
53% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 40% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Cowling’s residents are under 38 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Half of Cowling is under 38, younger than 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 8.6% of residents. 13% of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 94% of UK towns. Compared with 12% across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Cowling sits below 82% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7.2%)
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%.
7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns, against 4.9% in Cowling. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Below 97% of UK towns: 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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.
In Cowling the average household is 2.4 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. The census found that 29% of households are one person living alone locally. The usual figure: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
2.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 97% of UK towns
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
Here just over one in ten households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Cowling sits below 89% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.1%)
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.7%). On residents whose main language is English, Cowling sits higher than 98% of UK towns: 99%. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 97% of UK towns, at 53%
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: 96% of Cowling · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 40%, below 93% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.2%).
Fewer unpaid carers than 92% of UK towns: 7.4%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 30 residents. On adults who have never married, Cowling sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 38%. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 30% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 12% hold no qualification (18%).
Cowling is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowling | 1,439 | — | 38 | 13% | 34% |
| Sutton-in-Craven | 2,719 | 2.2 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Cross Hills | 4,809 | 2.2 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 27% |
| Steeton | 5,019 | 3.4 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 27% |
| Low Bradley | 1,203 | 3.7 mi | 55.9 | 33% | 21% |
| Carleton-in-Craven | 1,060 | 4 mi | 50.8 | 25% | 23% |
| Oakworth | 3,688 | 4.5 mi | 44.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 4.6 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 22% |
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 Cowling’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Cowling’s residents
What is the population of Cowling?
The 2021 Census counted 1,439 people in Cowling’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cowling?
The median age was 38 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cowling?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cowling?
53% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Cowling good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cowling’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). 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.