Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 90% of UK towns: half of Scotton is over 51.2
By its share of households without a car or van (6%), Scotton is below 97% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Scotton was home to 696 people in 303 households. The census found that 1% of households live in a flat or apartment locally. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 93% of UK towns.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 86% of UK towns: 8.5%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 10% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Scotton, just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
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.
In Scotton, 5.2% of adults are full-time students, more than in 65% 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, 46% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 14% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. To put it in context, 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.
One-person households: 25%, a lower share than 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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. The census found that 24% of households have dependent children in Scotton. The village has more shared households of unrelated adults than 75% of UK towns, at 3%.
Above 91% of UK towns: 51% of households live in a detached house
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
Here 22% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Add to that, 1% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 51% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 100%, a higher share than 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.7%) or in EU countries (1.4%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 3.6%, fewer than in 83% of UK towns.
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 93% 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: 97% of Scotton · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
36% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 57% of the total.
Adults who have never married make up 24% in Scotton, less than in 96% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 18. Set beside that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. More unpaid carers than in four fifths of UK towns: 11%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 43% of adults
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 Scotton, 43%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
No nearby town is as old as Scotton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotton | 696 | — | 51.2 | 26% | 24% |
| Knaresborough | 15,781 | 1.9 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Killinghall | 1,476 | 2.5 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 35% |
| Harrogate | 75,522 | 2.7 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 25% |
| Hampsthwaite | 1,169 | 4.2 mi | 46 | 27% | 29% |
| Pannal | 2,530 | 4.9 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 31% |
| Spofforth | 1,175 | 5.5 mi | 49.5 | 25% | 27% |
| Boroughbridge | 3,064 | 6.3 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 24% |
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 Scotton’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 Scotton’s residents
What is the population of Scotton?
The 2021 Census counted 696 people in Scotton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Scotton?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Scotton?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Scotton?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Scotton good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Scotton’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.