Photo: John Yeadon · CC BY 3.0More car-free households than 97% of UK towns: 32% in Eston
Set against 44% across England’s towns, 39% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Eston. 12% of households live in a detached house, a lower share than in 90% of UK towns. There were 13,174 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 29,625 residents. Locally, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Eston changed by +5% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 63% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Eston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 29,300 people in 2011; 30,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 560. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+19%) and the 16 to 29 least (−13%).
A median age of 42: Eston is younger than 69% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 20%, against 18% across England’s towns. Across Eston, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Eston, 42. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year: 7.2%, a lower share than 81% 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%.
Here 5.9% of adults are full-time students, where the figure across England’s towns is 7.9%. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Eston ranks below 84% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 1.7%
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.
One-person households make up 34%, against 30% across England’s towns. Each household has 2.2 people on average. The wider picture: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in flats than 62% of UK towns: 8.6%
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
At 24%, households in terraced houses sit close to the figure across England’s towns. As a reference point, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 83% of UK towns, at 3.6%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Here 98% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%.
51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 57% 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: 95% of Eston · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Pakistani (0.6%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The figure for residents with no religion is 42% in Eston and 37% across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 92% of UK towns: 41%
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
1,114 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Eston has more unpaid carers than 79% of UK towns, at 11%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 19%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 19% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 28% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 33 in Grangetown to 49 in Eston
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Eston is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Grangetown the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Grangetown (37% of households).
Of 227 UK towns its size (21,000 to 40,000 people), the 101st youngest
Median age, Census 2021. 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 Eston in age: Reigate (41.8), Rhyl (41.8), Coseley (42) and Larkfield (42).
Older than Eston: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eston | 29,625 | — | 42 | 20% | 28% |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 2.9 mi | 37.5 | 17% | 30% |
| Guisborough | 18,091 | 4.3 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Redcar | 37,666 | 4.4 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 27% |
| New Marske | 2,990 | 4.6 mi | 51 | 28% | 22% |
| Stainton | 1,817 | 5.1 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 21% |
| Great Ayton | 4,348 | 5.2 mi | 56.1 | 35% | 19% |
| Marske-by-the-Sea | 7,576 | 5.7 mi | 53.9 | 33% | 19% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 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 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 Eston’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. Eston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 29,389 people in 2021, against 29,625 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 Eston’s residents
What is the population of Eston?
The 2021 Census counted 29,625 people in Eston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 30,700 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Eston?
The median age was 42 at the 2021 Census, younger than 69% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Eston?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Eston?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.6% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Eston good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Grangetown (37% of households). Schools are on Eston’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.