Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0Northampton is younger than 92% of UK towns: a median age of 37
A third of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). Compared with other places, households in flats are common here: 19%, more than in four fifths of UK towns. Northampton counted 243,527 residents and 97,122 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 21% of households have no car or van.
What the Census says about Northampton’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in Northamptonshire
27% 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 (13%) and in Africa (4.7%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
36% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 95% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (15%), African (5.4%) and Mixed or multiple (3.6%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Northampton’s residents are under 37 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Northampton at 216,600 in 2011 and 253,800 in 2024, up 17%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 80% 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.
A growing town: +17% since 2011, faster than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Northampton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 216,600 people in 2011; 253,800 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+27%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (+6%). Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 5,230, its biggest one-year gain.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 92% of UK towns, at 14%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 12%, close to the figure across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The largest age band is 30–34: 8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Northampton, 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.
A larger share of full-time students than 94% of UK towns: 8.3%
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 Northampton, 29% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 28% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For Northampton, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 12%. The usual figure: 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.
Larger households than 87% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
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.
At 5.1%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Few places have so few one-person households: 28% here, fewer than in 64% of UK towns.
Northampton ranks above 80% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 28%
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
Detached houses are home to 23% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Typically, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 97% of UK towns: 27%
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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (13%) and in Africa (4.7%). At 83%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 97% of UK towns. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Since 2017: just over a quarter of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 64% in Northampton, less than in 95% 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: 64% of Northampton · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 5.6% of residents. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Lower than in 79% of UK towns: 36% of residents said they have no religion. What’s more, 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
In Northampton, 7.6% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 91% 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
Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Northampton comes in at 40%. In Northampton, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. By way of comparison, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
30% of Northampton’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 16%.
From a median age of 30 in Cogenhoe, Hackleton & Denton to 49 in Moulton
The city’s 36 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Moulton is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Cogenhoe, Hackleton & Denton the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Cogenhoe, Hackleton & Denton (60% of households).
22nd oldest of 47 UK towns of 170,000 to 329,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tower Hamlets is the youngest (30.8); Southend-on-Sea the oldest (41.8). Nearest to Northampton in age: Hounslow (36.8), Portsmouth (36.8), Hillingdon (37) and Kingston upon Hull (37.1).
Northampton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | 243,527 | — | 37 | 14% | 33% |
| Moulton | 4,953 | 3.2 mi | 38.9 | 19% | 34% |
| Collingtree and Milton Malsor | 1,514 | 3.9 mi | 48 | 21% | 29% |
| Cogenhoe | 1,475 | 4.2 mi | 49.9 | 26% | 25% |
| Kislingbury | 1,323 | 4.2 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 28% |
| Harpole | 1,349 | 4.3 mi | 50.5 | 29% | 24% |
| Sywell and Overstone | 1,636 | 4.9 mi | 57.2 | 34% | 17% |
| Blisworth | 1,603 | 5.4 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
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 Northampton’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. Northampton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 243,625 people in 2021, against 243,527 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 Northampton’s residents
What is the population of Northampton?
The 2021 Census counted 243,527 people in Northampton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 253,800 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Northampton?
The median age was 37 at the 2021 Census, younger than 92% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Northampton?
64% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 27% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Northampton?
36% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 5.6% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Northampton good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Cogenhoe, Hackleton & Denton (60% of households). Schools are on Northampton’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.