Photo: Ian Rob · CC BY-SA 2.0No religion: 49% of residents, a higher share than 92% of UK towns
Half of Irthlingborough’s residents are under 40.3, younger than in nearly four in five UK towns. Across Irthlingborough, 13% of households have no car or van. This Northamptonshire town counted 9,308 residents and 3,957 households at the 2021 Census. The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns.
What the Census says about Irthlingborough’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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 +11% change since 2011: faster than 66% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Irthlingborough’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,600 people in 2011; 9,500 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+39%) and the 30 to 44 group least (+2%). No year added more people than mid-2015 to mid-2016: 230.
17% of residents are 65 or over, below 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.5% of residents. On residents aged 15 to 24, Irthlingborough sits higher than 79% of UK towns: 11%. Elsewhere, 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+
■ Irthlingborough, 40.3. 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.
Irthlingborough 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%.
In Irthlingborough, 29% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 8.5%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a share 70% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Irthlingborough, 29%. Still, households with dependent children are more common here than in 72% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
23% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 63% of UK towns
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 in detached houses is 28%, against 21% across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison. For Irthlingborough, the census puts households in flats at 11%.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 74% of UK towns: 96%
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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 12% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are common here: 8.2%, more than in 65% of UK towns. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (5.2%) and in Africa (1.3%).
Irthlingborough sits below 70% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (88%)
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 Irthlingborough · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Irthlingborough has 44%. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (5.4%), Mixed or multiple (2.5%) and African (1.2%). By way of comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
In Irthlingborough, 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 76% 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
247 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 43%, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 9%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Irthlingborough’s adults: 23% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Among 413 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, the 63rd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Seaton the oldest (61). Nearest to Irthlingborough in age: Cotgrave (40.2), Padiham (40.3), Stotfold (40.3) and Hersham (40.3).
Of the 7 towns nearest Irthlingborough, 6 are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irthlingborough | 9,308 | — | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Higham Ferrers | 8,825 | 1.4 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 32% |
| Finedon | 4,554 | 1.7 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 23% |
| Stanwick | 1,891 | 2.3 mi | 51.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Rushden | 31,689 | 2.8 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 29% |
| Irchester | 4,543 | 3.4 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 25% |
| Raunds | 10,231 | 3.4 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 28% |
| Burton Latimer | 10,440 | 3.7 mi | 38.4 | 16% | 34% |
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 Irthlingborough’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. Irthlingborough’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,308 people in 2021, against 9,308 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 Irthlingborough’s residents
What is the population of Irthlingborough?
The 2021 Census counted 9,308 people in Irthlingborough’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,500 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Irthlingborough?
The median age was 40.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Irthlingborough?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 8.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Irthlingborough?
49% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Irthlingborough good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Irthlingborough’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.