Photo: Gordon Kneale Brooke · CC BY-SA 2.0Whitley sits above 98% of UK towns for households with dependent children (40%)
With residents aged 65 and over at 13%, Whitley is behind 94% of UK towns on that count. 815 residents in 304 households: that is Whitley at the 2021 Census. Here, nearly three in five households live in a detached house. The village has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 84% of UK towns, at 96%.
A median age of 40.1: Whitley is younger than 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (11%), Whitley is above 89% of UK towns. In Filey, the oldest of North Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of full-time students than 91% of UK towns: 6.9%
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 Whitley, nearly two in five adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. 8.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 19% of households in Whitley are one person living alone
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.
In Whitley, 3.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns. Against that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.7 people on average.
A lower share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns, at 1%
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
14% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). For comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Across Whitley, 6.9% of households have no car or van.
100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.2%), then in Africa (0.7%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. At 3.4%, the share of residents born outside the UK is lower than in 85% of UK towns.
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 72% 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: 96% of Whitley · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 39% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (1.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.7%).
Whitley ranks above 84% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 54%
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
At 8.8%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. In Whitley, 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 34%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 34% of adults in Whitley (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 10% (England’s towns: 18%). The highest qualification of 22% is A levels, often students still at university.
Older than Whitley: 4 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitley | 815 | — | 40.1 | 13% | 40% |
| Eggborough | 2,440 | 1.6 mi | 39.1 | 18% | 31% |
| Norton | 2,304 | 3.5 mi | 48.8 | 24% | 27% |
| Campsall | 1,879 | 4.3 mi | 47.2 | 23% | 26% |
| Knottingley | 9,516 | 4.4 mi | 38.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Askern | 5,439 | 4.8 mi | 36.1 | 14% | 34% |
| Darrington | 1,194 | 4.9 mi | 54.1 | 32% | 22% |
| Snaith | 3,557 | 5 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 28% |
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 Whitley’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 Whitley’s residents
What is the population of Whitley?
The 2021 Census counted 815 people in Whitley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Whitley?
The median age was 40.1 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whitley?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Whitley?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Whitley good for families?
40% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whitley’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.