Photo: RHaworth · CC BY 2.5A median age of 54.2: Giggleswick is older than 96% of UK towns
Here 0.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Giggleswick counted 1,075 residents and 459 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment. 58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Giggleswick’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Giggleswick’s residents are under 54.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% 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).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 33% in Giggleswick, more than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 15–19: 10% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More students than 95% of UK towns: 9.1% of adults in Giggleswick
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 Giggleswick, 39% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For Giggleswick, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 12%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households with dependent children: 18%, a lower share than 97% of UK towns
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.
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Here, 28% of households are one person living alone.
In Giggleswick, 41% of households live in a detached house, more than in 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
Households without a car or van make up 12%, against 24% across England’s towns. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%. 26% of households live in a terraced house.
4.9% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 65% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.5%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 98% here, more than in 67% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 92% 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: 95% of Giggleswick · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 95%, against 73% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Across Giggleswick, 35% of residents said they have no religion.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 89% of UK towns, at 26%
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
For 17 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. 8.7% of residents give unpaid care, a lower share than in 69% of UK towns. On average, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Giggleswick, 44% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 12% have no qualification at all (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 15%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Giggleswick
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giggleswick | 1,075 | — | 54.2 | 33% | 18% |
| Settle | 2,710 | 0.5 mi | 58.2 | 37% | 14% |
| Hellifield | 1,478 | 5.2 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 24% |
| Ingleton | 1,751 | 9 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 20% |
| High Bentham | 1,701 | 9.5 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 22% |
| Gargrave | 1,502 | 9.7 mi | 56.5 | 36% | 17% |
| Barnoldswick | 10,915 | 11.3 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 27% |
| Grassington | 1,107 | 11.9 mi | 58.6 | 39% | 15% |
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 Giggleswick’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 Giggleswick’s residents
What is the population of Giggleswick?
The 2021 Census counted 1,075 people in Giggleswick’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Giggleswick?
The median age was 54.2 at the 2021 Census. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Giggleswick?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Giggleswick?
35% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Giggleswick good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Giggleswick’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.