Photo: Martin Dawes · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents who describe themselves as White British than 99% of UK towns: 98%
In Loftus the average household is 2.2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Census figures put households without a car or van at 28% here. This North Yorkshire town has fewer households in detached houses than 85% of UK towns, at 15%. There were 1,912 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 4,273 residents.
In Loftus, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 69% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. What’s more, the median age in Loftus is 44.8, higher than in 52% of UK towns. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Loftus, 44.8. 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 4.6% in Loftus, less than in 59% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 9.6% here and 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Loftus ranks above 87% of UK towns on one-person households: 35%
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.
Here 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 25% here, fewer than in 72% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
A town of terraces: 45% of households live in one
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
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment; in Loftus, 8.4%. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Loftus sits below 99% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (2.1%)
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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Loftus has 99%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 69% 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: 98% of Loftus · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Census figures put residents with no religion at 41% in Loftus. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 79% of UK towns: 37%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%; Loftus has 43%. 137 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 9.6%, more than in 56% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 21%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Loftus, 21%, and 25% have none, against 18%.
244th lowest median age among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Loftus in age: Brynmawr (44.7), Taff's Well (44.7), Spilsby (44.8) and Crowland (44.8).
4 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Loftus
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loftus | 4,273 | — | 44.8 | 23% | 25% |
| Carlin How | 1,196 | 1 mi | 41 | 18% | 26% |
| Brotton | 5,399 | 2.3 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 26% |
| Lingdale | 1,323 | 3.1 mi | 48 | 24% | 22% |
| Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) | 6,895 | 3.7 mi | 44.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Boosbeck | 1,124 | 3.8 mi | 40.5 | 16% | 31% |
| Saltburn-by-the-Sea | 5,874 | 4.3 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 19% |
| Marske-by-the-Sea | 7,576 | 5.9 mi | 53.9 | 33% | 19% |
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 Loftus’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 Loftus’s residents
What is the population of Loftus?
The 2021 Census counted 4,273 people in Loftus’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Loftus?
The median age was 44.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 52% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Loftus?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 2.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Loftus?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Loftus good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Loftus’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.