Photo: Cj1340 · CC BY-SA 3.0Younger than 92% of UK towns: half of Corby is under 37
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The 2021 Census put Corby’s population at 68,164, in 26,817 households. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 27% here. Lower than in 85% of UK towns: 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Corby’s people
More born abroad than most towns
24% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across Northamptonshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (17%) and in Africa (2.4%). Where people were born ↓
A town of families
35% of Corby’s 26,817 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 94% of UK towns. 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Corby’s residents are under 37 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Corby at 57,100 in 2011 and 70,500 in 2024, up 24%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 90% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Growth of +24% since 2011 puts Corby ahead of 90% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Corby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 57,100 people in 2011; 70,500 in 2024.
Split by age, the 30 to 44 changed most (+39%) and the 16 to 29 least (−1%). The steepest year was mid-2011 to mid-2012, up 1,500 people.
Corby sits below 94% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (13%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 35–39: 8.5% of residents. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here, more than in 78% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Irchester, the oldest of Northamptonshire’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Corby, 37. 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.
Corby sits above 67% of UK towns for full-time students (5.2%)
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 account for nearly a quarter of Corby’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 39%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: a tenth of the total. Against that, 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.
A family town: 35% of households have dependent children
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Northamptonshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone in Corby. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children. The census found that 5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here.
More households without a car or van than 76% of UK towns: 21%
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
Lower than in 70% of UK towns: 21% of households live in a detached house. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Across Corby, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment.
More residents born outside the UK than 95% of UK towns: 24%
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 23%. The census found that 83% of residents have English as their main language in Corby. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 63% of UK towns, at 43%
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: 73% of Corby · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. Locally, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Above 88% of UK towns: 39% of adults have never married or formed 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
At 8%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 22% of Corby’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 24% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 33 in Corby Village & Weldon to 42 in Great Oakley and Danesholme
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Great Oakley and Danesholme is the oldest area, with 18% aged 65 or over; Corby Village & Weldon the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Snatchill (49% of households).
16th youngest of 105 UK towns of 48,000 to 92,000 people
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 Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Christchurch (51.7), the oldest. Nearest to Corby in age: Aylesbury (36.4), Dartford (36.6), Ashford (37.2) and Burton upon Trent (37.5).
Corby is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corby | 68,164 | — | 37 | 13% | 35% |
| Cottingham and Middleton | 1,365 | 2.6 mi | 53.6 | 28% | 23% |
| Weldon | 3,042 | 3.2 mi | 40 | 18% | 32% |
| Geddington | 1,525 | 3.4 mi | 49.8 | 25% | 27% |
| Gretton | 1,519 | 3.9 mi | 47.4 | 22% | 30% |
| Brigstock | 1,436 | 4.5 mi | 50.9 | 25% | 25% |
| Desborough | 11,899 | 5.6 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 30% |
| Rothwell | 8,623 | 5.9 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 27% |
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.
- “Northamptonshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Northamptonshire (or England), summed the same way as Corby’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. Corby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 67,669 people in 2021, against 68,164 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 Corby’s residents
What is the population of Corby?
The 2021 Census counted 68,164 people in Corby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 70,500 people in mid-2024, 24% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Corby?
The median age was 37 at the 2021 Census, younger than 92% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Corby?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 24% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Corby?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Corby good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Snatchill (49% of households). Schools are on Corby’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.