Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 94% of UK towns: 97% of residents describe themselves as White British
The figure for households without a car or van is 27% in Redcar and 24% across England’s towns. This North Yorkshire town counted 37,666 residents and 16,859 households at the 2021 Census. Across Redcar, 34% of households are one person living alone. At 2%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in 72% of UK towns.
+4% since 2011, a pace below 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Redcar’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 38,400 people in 2011; 39,800 in 2024.
Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 360, its biggest one-year gain. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+27%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−12%).
A young town: 10% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.8% of residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. With a median age of 43.7, Redcar is younger than 56% of UK towns. In Filey, the oldest of North Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Redcar, 43.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 80% of UK towns: 5.8%
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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Redcar has 7.9%. A quarter of the town’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 71% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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 share of households with dependent children stands at 27%.
Households in detached houses: 19%, a lower share than 77% 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
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 9.4% of households live in a flat or apartment in Redcar. For comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. On the census count, a quarter of households live in a terraced house.
3.2% born outside the UK, fewer than in 89% 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
Compared with 90% across England’s towns, 99% of residents have English as their main language here. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%) and in EU countries (1.1%).
51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 59% 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: 97% of Redcar · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 42% here and 37% across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Arab (0.4%). The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Redcar: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 82% 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
1,383 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Unpaid carers: 8.7% across England’s towns, for comparison. Redcar has fewer married adults and civil partners than 84% of UK towns, at 42%. Meanwhile, across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%; Redcar has 37%.
25% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Redcar’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 25% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 37 in Marske to 47 in Redcar East
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Redcar East is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Marske the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Marske (47% of households).
Ranked by age, 51st oldest of 196 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Redcar in age: Wigston (43.6), Fleet (43.6), Totton (43.7) and New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater (43.8).
5 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Redcar
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redcar | 37,666 | — | 43.7 | 21% | 27% |
| New Marske | 2,990 | 2.2 mi | 51 | 28% | 22% |
| Marske-by-the-Sea | 7,576 | 2.2 mi | 53.9 | 33% | 19% |
| Saltburn-by-the-Sea | 5,874 | 3.9 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 19% |
| Eston | 29,625 | 4.4 mi | 42 | 20% | 28% |
| Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) | 6,895 | 4.8 mi | 44.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Guisborough | 18,091 | 5.1 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Boosbeck | 1,124 | 5.5 mi | 40.5 | 16% | 31% |
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 Redcar’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. Redcar’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 38,950 people in 2021, against 37,666 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 Redcar’s residents
What is the population of Redcar?
The 2021 Census counted 37,666 people in Redcar’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 39,800 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Redcar?
The median age was 43.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 56% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Redcar?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Redcar?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Redcar good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Marske (47% of households). Schools are on Redcar’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.