Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Selby is younger than 83% of UK towns: a median age of 39.4
The figure for households in terraced houses is 30% in Selby and 24% across England’s towns. This North Yorkshire town had 19,480 residents in 8,619 households at the 2021 Census. For Selby, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 88%. Fewer households in detached houses than in four fifths of UK towns: 17%.
Selby grew +17% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 79% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Selby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 17,400 people in 2011; 20,300 in 2024.
Mid-2018 to mid-2019 brought the biggest yearly rise, 340 people. The 30 to 44 group saw the biggest change (+31%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−11%).
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 82% of UK towns: 17%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30–34 is the most common age band: 8.1% of residents. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Filey, the oldest of North Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Selby, 39.4. 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.
Selby ranks below 73% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.3%
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 just over a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 36% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. 9.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Selby households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 67% 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.
Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%; Selby has 32%. 28% of households have dependent children.
More flats than 66% of UK towns: 14% of households in Selby
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
Households without a car or van make up 23%, against 24% across England’s towns.
In Selby, 12% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 79% 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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 17% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). On residents whose main language is English, Selby sits lower than 90% of UK towns: 91%. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (9.1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Selby: 52% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 62% 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: 88% of Selby · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (9.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.4%). Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Set against 37% across England’s towns, just over two in five residents said they have no religion in Selby.
42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 86% 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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8.7%, about the same as across England’s towns. More adults who have never married than in 82% of UK towns: 38%. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 522 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
25% 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 25% of Selby’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Selby Town to 50 in Selby South, Brayton & Barlow
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Selby South, Brayton & Barlow is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Selby Town the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Selby Town (30% of households).
35th lowest median age among 295 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Selby in age: Swanley (39.2), Chertsey (39.3), Mexborough (39.4) and Hebburn (39.5).
The towns around Selby are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selby | 19,480 | — | 39.4 | 17% | 28% |
| Brayton | 4,092 | 1.2 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 29% |
| Barlby | 3,499 | 1.9 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 28% |
| Thorpe Willoughby | 3,482 | 2.3 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 26% |
| Riccall | 2,388 | 3.6 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 27% |
| Hambleton | 1,722 | 4 mi | 47.9 | 26% | 27% |
| Hemingbrough | 1,874 | 4.1 mi | 46.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Cawood | 1,501 | 4.3 mi | 48.3 | 24% | 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 Selby’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. Selby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,673 people in 2021, against 19,480 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 Selby’s residents
What is the population of Selby?
The 2021 Census counted 19,480 people in Selby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 20,300 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Selby?
The median age was 39.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 83% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Selby?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Selby?
41% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Selby good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Selby Town (30% of households). Schools are on Selby’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.