Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0Skipton ranks above 96% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 43%
Households with dependent children: 23% here and 29% across England’s towns. Locally, 36% of households are one person living alone. Few places have so few households in detached houses: 12% here, fewer than in 90% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 15,050 residents and 7,133 households in Skipton.
Faster growth than 55% of UK towns: Skipton changed by +9% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Skipton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,600 people in 2011; 15,900 in 2024.
Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 310 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+36%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−9%).
9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 74% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Skipton comes in at 24%. Half of the town’s residents are over 45.9, older than in 61% of UK towns. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Skipton, 45.9. 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.
Only 4.3% of adults are full-time students in Skipton
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%.
In Skipton, 36% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across Skipton, 10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 91% of UK towns: 2.1 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 census found that 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Skipton.
Above 70% of UK towns: 15% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
The share of households without a car or van is 23%, against 24% across England’s towns.
96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 71% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.5%). Few places have as many residents born outside the UK: 7.9% here, more than in 63% of UK towns. Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 15% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 88%, a lower share than 70% 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 Skipton · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (4.6%), Pakistani (3.1%) and Mixed or multiple (1.4%). To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Skipton comes in at 49%.
Skipton sits below 64% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (46%)
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
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 8.9%. 341 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
36% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Skipton counts 36% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 16% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 41 in Skipton South to 54 in Skipton North & Upper Wharfedale
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.
Skipton North & Upper Wharfedale is the oldest area, with 33% aged 65 or over; Skipton South the youngest (median age 41). Families with children are most common in Skipton North & Upper Wharfedale (24% of households).
Of 333 UK towns its size (11,000 to 20,000 people), the 112th oldest
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 Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Skipton in age: Minster (Swale) (45.8), Blandford Forum (45.8), Haydock (45.9) and Marlow (45.9).
The towns around Skipton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skipton | 15,050 | — | 45.9 | 24% | 23% |
| Embsay | 1,723 | 1.6 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Carleton-in-Craven | 1,060 | 1.6 mi | 50.8 | 25% | 23% |
| Low Bradley | 1,203 | 2 mi | 55.9 | 33% | 21% |
| Gargrave | 1,502 | 4 mi | 56.5 | 36% | 17% |
| Cross Hills | 4,809 | 4.2 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 27% |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 4.5 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 22% |
| Sutton-in-Craven | 2,719 | 4.7 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 27% |
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 Skipton’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. Skipton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,387 people in 2021, against 15,050 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 Skipton’s residents
What is the population of Skipton?
The 2021 Census counted 15,050 people in Skipton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,900 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Skipton?
The median age was 45.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Skipton?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 7.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Skipton?
41% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.5% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Skipton good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Skipton North & Upper Wharfedale (24% of households). Schools are on Skipton’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.