Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0In Melsonby, 0.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Households without a car or van make up 4.6%, against 24% across England’s towns. Melsonby had 705 residents in 313 households at the 2021 Census. Here, nearly a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. At 96%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is higher than in 86% of UK towns.
Melsonby is older than 88% of UK towns: a median age of 50.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
A quarter of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). Residents aged 15 to 24: just over a tenth of the total.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 89% of UK towns: 3.8%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 44% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 18% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across Melsonby, 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
26% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 81% 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.
The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. What’s more, households with dependent children are rarer here than in 78% of UK towns. As a reference point, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households in terraced houses: 27%, a higher share than 75% 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
By its share of households in detached houses (39%), Melsonby is above nearly three quarters of UK towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 98% of UK towns, at 99%
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 share of residents born outside the UK trails nearly three quarters of UK towns: 4.3%. The wider picture: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
62% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 97% 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: 96% of Melsonby · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Melsonby has 33%. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
58% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 95% 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
Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
45% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 45% of Melsonby’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 10% have no qualification (18%).
Median age: 2 of the 7 towns around Melsonby 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melsonby | 705 | — | 50.6 | 25% | 24% |
| Richmond | 8,076 | 4.6 mi | 51.9 | 29% | 21% |
| Brompton-on-Swale | 1,899 | 5.5 mi | 50.6 | 25% | 24% |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 5.5 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 24% |
| Scorton | 1,011 | 6.1 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 28% |
| Hurworth-on-Tees | 2,667 | 6.4 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 25% |
| Catterick Garrison | 14,212 | 6.7 mi | 29.8 | 8.4% | 41% |
| Darlington | 93,022 | 7 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 26% |
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 Melsonby’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 Melsonby’s residents
What is the population of Melsonby?
The 2021 Census counted 705 people in Melsonby’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Melsonby?
The median age was 50.6 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Melsonby?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Melsonby?
33% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Melsonby good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Melsonby’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.