Photo: Richard West · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households with dependent children than 93% of UK towns, at 21%
Against a figure of 30% across England’s towns, the share of one-person households in Whitby comes in at 37%. At the 2021 Census, 12,603 people lived locally, in 5,971 households. Across Whitby, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British. 28% of households have no car or van, more than in 91% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Whitby’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Whitby’s residents are under 50.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 27% 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.
A ±0% change since 2011: slower than 84% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Whitby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,200 people in 2011; 13,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+27%) and the 16 to 29 least (−15%).
A median age of 50.6: Whitby is older than 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 27% of residents are 65 or over here. On residents aged 15 to 24, Whitby sits lower than 72% of UK towns: 9.1%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Whitby, 50.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
In Whitby, 4.1% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 79% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 23% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 34% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Whitby.
Whitby households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 95% 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.
2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (England’s towns: 4.3%).
Whitby sits below 80% of UK towns for households in detached houses (18%)
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, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment; in Whitby, 22%. The wider picture: just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.6%, a lower share than 84% 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 those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 23% (England’s towns: 21%). The census found that 99% of residents have English as their main language in Whitby. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Whitby ranks above 76% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 54%
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 Whitby · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Bangladeshi (0.2%). Nearly two in five residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 64% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46%.
Below 63% of UK towns: 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
Whitby sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 8.7%, about the same as across England’s towns. 366 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
24% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Whitby, 24% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 24% have no qualification at all (18%).
39th highest median age among 382 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Whitby in age: Llandudno (50.4), Bridgnorth (50.5), Cottingham (50.7) and Poynton (50.7).
Around Whitby, 1 of 2 towns have a higher median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Whitby’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. Whitby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,135 people in 2021, against 12,603 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 Whitby’s residents
What is the population of Whitby?
The 2021 Census counted 12,603 people in Whitby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Whitby?
The median age was 50.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 88% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whitby?
96% 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 Whitby?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Whitby good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whitby’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.