Photo: Oliver Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Ouston is younger than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 27.1
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 10% of households are one person living alone here. Households in detached houses account for 6.5%. At 47%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in 85% of UK towns. 382 residents in 48 households: that is Ouston at the 2021 Census.
Ouston sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (26%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 25–29, with 31% of residents, 4.6 times the share across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
22% women, 78% men
About 29 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
Ouston sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.4%)
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 take in 40% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 4.5% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 27%, more than in 99% of UK towns. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children: 63%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Northumberland’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Households in Ouston hold 2.8 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%.
Only 15% of households live in a terraced house in Ouston
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
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Ouston sits above 89% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (17%)
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
The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (6.5%) and in EU countries (6%). For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Ouston has 98%.
In Ouston, 41% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 90% 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: 85% of Ouston · Northumberland’s towns 96% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Caribbean (4.2%), Other White (2.9%) and African (2.9%). The wider picture: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 85% of residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 78% of UK towns.
1.9% of residents give unpaid care, below 99% 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
Set against 39% across England’s towns, two thirds of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Ouston. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 22% here, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%. Some 1 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
A degree-level qualification for 10% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 10% of Ouston’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 2.7% have no qualification (18%).
No nearby town is as young as Ouston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ouston | 382 | — | 27.1 | 0% | 63% |
| Ovingham | 1,155 | 3.2 mi | 50.6 | 27% | 23% |
| Wylam | 1,661 | 3.3 mi | 51.1 | 28% | 25% |
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | 1,300 | 3.5 mi | 58.2 | 37% | 17% |
| Prudhoe | 10,285 | 4 mi | 45.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Throckley | 6,207 | 4.8 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Ponteland | 10,149 | 4.9 mi | 52.5 | 32% | 25% |
| Crawcrook and Greenside | 7,544 | 5.1 mi | 45.6 | 23% | 25% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Northumberland’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Northumberland (or England), summed the same way as Ouston’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 Ouston’s residents
What is the population of Ouston?
The 2021 Census counted 382 people in Ouston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ouston?
The median age was 27.1 at the 2021 Census. 26% of residents were 15 to 24 and 0% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ouston?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 96% across Northumberland’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ouston?
47% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 7.3% didn’t answer.
Is Ouston good for families?
63% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ouston’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.