Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 92% of UK towns: half of Richmond is over 51.9
21% of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Richmond’s 3,887 households held 8,076 residents at the 2021 Census. Across Richmond, 37% of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 96%, more than in 88% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Richmond’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Richmond at 8,400 in 2011 and 8,000 in 2024, down 5%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 97% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Richmond’s residents are under 51.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
From 2011 to 2024, 97% of UK towns grew faster than Richmond: −5%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Richmond’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,400 people in 2011; 8,000 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+33%) and 0 to 15 least (−29%).
In Richmond, 29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
9.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Richmond, 51.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Full-time students: 4.4%, a lower share than 69% 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%.
By class, 38% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 23% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Richmond, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 9.4%.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 96% 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.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (1.8%), Richmond is below 81% of UK towns.
A higher share of households in flats than 77% of UK towns, at 17%
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, the share of households without a car or van is 24%; Richmond has 18%. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Here, 25% of households live in a detached house.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 92% of UK towns: 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
5.9% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Richmond ranks above 90% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 58%
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 Richmond · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Arab (0.2%). Few places have so few residents with no religion: 36% here, fewer than in 78% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Richmond ranks below 88% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 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
The share of married adults and civil partners tops 60% of UK towns: 50%. The census found that 9.2% of residents give unpaid care in Richmond. By way of comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 37% of its adults qualified to degree level, Richmond compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 15% hold no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 34th oldest of 424 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Richmond in age: Ledbury (51.7), Hexham (51.8), Swaffham (51.9) and Ludlow (52.2).
2 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Richmond
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 8,076 | — | 51.9 | 29% | 21% |
| Catterick Garrison | 14,212 | 2.4 mi | 29.8 | 8.4% | 41% |
| Brompton-on-Swale | 1,899 | 2.9 mi | 50.6 | 25% | 24% |
| Catterick | 2,718 | 4.6 mi | 37.9 | 20% | 27% |
| Scorton | 1,011 | 4.8 mi | 50.6 | 28% | 28% |
| Leyburn | 2,414 | 7.7 mi | 57.7 | 37% | 15% |
| Hurworth-on-Tees | 2,667 | 9.4 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 25% |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 9.6 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 24% |
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 Richmond’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. Richmond’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,076 people in 2021, against 8,076 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 Richmond’s residents
What is the population of Richmond?
The 2021 Census counted 8,076 people in Richmond’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,000 people in mid-2024, 5% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Richmond?
The median age was 51.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Richmond?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Richmond?
36% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Richmond good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Richmond’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. 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.