Photo: Christine Matthews · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 92% of UK towns: 26% of households live in a flat or apartment
With one-person households at 35%, Harrogate is ahead of 85% of UK towns on that count. This North Yorkshire town counted 75,522 residents and 33,912 households at the 2021 Census. In Harrogate, 25% of households have dependent children. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 65% of UK towns.
A change of +5% since 2011 leaves Harrogate behind 61% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Harrogate’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 75,400 people in 2011; 79,200 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2023 to mid-2024, the population rose by 900, the most of any year. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+23%) and 0 to 15 least (−5%).
In Harrogate, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 78% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 21%, against 18% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 7.8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Harrogate, 44.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 6.3% in Harrogate, more than in 87% 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%.
12% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 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.
Harrogate households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 84% 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.
In Harrogate, 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van make up 19% in Harrogate, more than in 69% 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
21% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. Households in detached houses account for 20%. Every 5th household or so has no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK make up 12% in Harrogate, more than in 79% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are nearly a quarter of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. For Harrogate, the census puts residents whose main language is English at 95%.
In Harrogate, 87% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 73% 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: 87% of Harrogate · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion trails nearly two thirds of UK towns: 39%. The largest groups after White British are Other White (6.6%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (0.8%).
Harrogate sits above 61% of UK towns for adults who have never married (34%)
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
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.1%, close to the figure across England’s towns. On average, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
41% of Harrogate’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have none (18%). Many of the 16% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
From a median age of 28 in Killinghall & Hampsthwaite to 50 in Stray
The town’s 9 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Stray is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Killinghall & Hampsthwaite the youngest (median age 28). Students cluster in Killinghall & Hampsthwaite, where 32% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Killinghall & Hampsthwaite (34% of households).
91 UK towns of 53,000 to 102,000 people: this is the 12th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Clacton-on-Sea (50.4). Nearest to Harrogate in age: Tynemouth (44.3), Stourbridge (44.4), Bebington (45.1) and Eastbourne (45.2).
5 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Harrogate
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrogate | 75,522 | — | 44.5 | 21% | 25% |
| Killinghall | 1,476 | 2.3 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 35% |
| Pannal | 2,530 | 2.4 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 31% |
| Knaresborough | 15,781 | 3.1 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Hampsthwaite | 1,169 | 3.4 mi | 46 | 27% | 29% |
| Spofforth | 1,175 | 4.5 mi | 49.5 | 25% | 27% |
| Pool-in-Wharfedale | 1,991 | 7.3 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 35% |
| Wetherby | 11,711 | 7.4 mi | 50.8 | 31% | 23% |
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 Harrogate’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. Harrogate’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 76,421 people in 2021, against 75,522 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 Harrogate’s residents
What is the population of Harrogate?
The 2021 Census counted 75,522 people in Harrogate’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 79,200 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Harrogate?
The median age was 44.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 50% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Harrogate?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Harrogate?
39% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Harrogate good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Killinghall & Hampsthwaite (34% of households). Schools are on Harrogate’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.