Photo: David Clark · CC BY-SA 2.01.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
With a median age of 49.3, Embsay is older than 82% of UK towns. Across Embsay, 21% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. The village’s 748 households held 1,723 residents at the 2021 Census. In Embsay, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of UK towns: 7.3%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: nearly one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Embsay, 27% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
Full-time students make up 4.3% in Embsay, less than in 72% 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%.
Across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Embsay, 7.8%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Embsay ranks below 74% of UK towns on one-person households: 27%
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, 29% of households have dependent children; in Embsay, 27%. One-person households make up 30% across England’s towns. Households average 2.3 people.
11% of households have no car or van, below 79% 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
The figure for households in detached houses is 37% in Embsay and 21% across England’s towns. Across Embsay, 6.4% of households live in a flat or apartment. Every 10th household or so has no car or van.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Embsay, more than in 95% 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%
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 (0.9%). Typically, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Fewer residents born outside the UK than in 84% of UK towns: 3.5%.
56% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 82% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 97% of Embsay · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Pakistani (0.4%). At 39%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 65% of UK towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns is 46%.
62% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more 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
Unpaid carers make up 8.4%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%.
A degree-level qualification for 48% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Embsay, 9.8%, while 48% hold one at degree level (34%).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Embsay 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embsay | 1,723 | — | 49.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Skipton | 15,050 | 1.6 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 23% |
| Low Bradley | 1,203 | 3.2 mi | 55.9 | 33% | 21% |
| Carleton-in-Craven | 1,060 | 3.2 mi | 50.8 | 25% | 23% |
| Gargrave | 1,502 | 4.5 mi | 56.5 | 36% | 17% |
| Addingham | 3,247 | 5 mi | 57.1 | 38% | 19% |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 5.1 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 22% |
| Cross Hills | 4,809 | 5.4 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 27% |
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 Embsay’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 Embsay’s residents
What is the population of Embsay?
The 2021 Census counted 1,723 people in Embsay’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Embsay?
The median age was 49.3 at the 2021 Census. 7.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Embsay?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Embsay?
39% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Embsay good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Embsay’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.