Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households without a car or van than 86% of UK towns, at 9.3%
Detached houses are home to 44% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Locally, 25% of households are one person living alone. With a median age of 40.8, Thrapston is younger than just over three quarters of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Thrapston was home to 7,239 people in 3,000 households.
What the Census says about Thrapston’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Thrapston at 6,300 in 2011 and 7,600 in 2024, up 22%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 88% 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.
Faster growth than 88% of UK towns: Thrapston changed by +22% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Thrapston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,300 people in 2011; 7,600 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2020 to mid-2021, the population rose by 430, the most of any year. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+61%) and 0 to 15 least (+7%).
Thrapston ranks below 85% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 70% of UK towns. In Irchester, the oldest of Northamptonshire’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Thrapston, 40.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%; Thrapston has 5%. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across England’s towns, for comparison.
2.4 people per household, more than in 80% of UK towns
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.
31% of households have dependent children (England’s towns: 29%). Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.8% in Thrapston.
A smaller share of households in flats than 69% of UK towns: 7.5%
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, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Thrapston has 18%. Typically, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
More residents born abroad than 66% of UK towns: 8.4% in Thrapston
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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Thrapston has 96%. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%).
46% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 80% 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: 90% of Thrapston · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents who describe themselves as Christian (47%), Thrapston is below nearly two thirds of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 64% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (4.5%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Caribbean (0.6%).
Unpaid carers: 7.3%, a lower share than 94% 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
Some 149 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. As a reference point, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners: 49% here and 44% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 31% of adults in Thrapston (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 14% (England’s towns: 18%).
538 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people: this is the 102nd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Red Lodge (30.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Thrapston in age: Ushaw Moor and Bearpark (40.8), Norton Canes (40.8), Grove (40.8) and Abercarn (40.8).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Thrapston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thrapston | 7,239 | — | 40.8 | 16% | 31% |
| Ringstead | 1,369 | 2.1 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 26% |
| Woodford | 1,472 | 2.2 mi | 51.7 | 28% | 20% |
| Raunds | 10,231 | 3.6 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 28% |
| Stanwick | 1,891 | 4.4 mi | 51.3 | 27% | 27% |
| Brigstock | 1,436 | 5.3 mi | 50.9 | 25% | 25% |
| Irthlingborough | 9,308 | 5.9 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Higham Ferrers | 8,825 | 6.4 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 32% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Thrapston’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. Thrapston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,239 people in 2021, against 7,239 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 Thrapston’s residents
What is the population of Thrapston?
The 2021 Census counted 7,239 people in Thrapston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,600 people in mid-2024, 22% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Thrapston?
The median age was 40.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thrapston?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 8.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thrapston?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Thrapston good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thrapston’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.