Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0Dishforth is younger than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 33.8
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 1.3% of households live in a flat or apartment in Dishforth. Across Dishforth, 16% of households are one person living alone. More married adults and civil partners than in 98% of UK towns: 60%. At the 2021 Census, 1,266 people lived here, in 456 households.
What the Census says about Dishforth’s people
A village of families
45% of Dishforth’s 456 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 99% of UK towns. 25% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Dishforth’s residents are under 33.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 9.2% are 15 to 24 and 8.8% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A village people move to
22% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Below 98% of UK towns: 8.8% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Here, 9.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
More residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns: 22%
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 Dishforth, 41% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Locally, 4.7% of adults are full-time students.
A family village: 45% of households have dependent children
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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Dishforth, 2.7. As a yardstick, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. On the census count, 1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
1.8% of households have no car or van, below 99% 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
Detached houses are home to nearly two in five households, against 21% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 51% of UK towns.
Dishforth: 14% of residents were born outside the UK, above 84% of UK towns
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
Compared with 90% across England’s towns, 94% of residents have English as their main language here. Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns.
In Dishforth, 84% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 79% of UK towns
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: 84% of Dishforth · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 37%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 53%, more than in just over two thirds of UK towns. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as African (3.4%), Other White (3.1%) and Mixed or multiple (1.4%).
Unpaid carers make up 5% in Dishforth, less than in 99% 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
Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Dishforth has 28%. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 17 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Dishforth’s adults: 34% with a degree-level qualification and 9.3% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Dishforth 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dishforth | 1,266 | — | 33.8 | 8.8% | 45% |
| Langthorpe | 1,294 | 3.6 mi | 45.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Boroughbridge | 3,064 | 4.1 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 24% |
| Ripon | 16,593 | 4.7 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 25% |
| Sowerby | 4,727 | 5.9 mi | 45 | 25% | 26% |
| Thirsk | 5,891 | 6.6 mi | 47.3 | 24% | 21% |
| Easingwold | 5,036 | 9.4 mi | 51.8 | 31% | 20% |
| Knaresborough | 15,781 | 9.8 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 26% |
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 Dishforth’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 Dishforth’s residents
What is the population of Dishforth?
The 2021 Census counted 1,266 people in Dishforth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Dishforth?
The median age was 33.8 at the 2021 Census. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 8.8% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dishforth?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dishforth?
37% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Dishforth good for families?
45% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dishforth’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.