Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Wooler is over 59.9
Nearly a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). Wooler has fewer residents with no religion than 90% of UK towns, at 32%. At the 2021 Census, 1,930 people lived here, in 1,018 households. For Wooler, the census puts households with dependent children at 13%.
What the Census says about Wooler’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wooler’s residents are under 59.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 41% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns, at 41%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
6.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 1.9%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Wooler has 26% and 31%. The census found that 8.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier locally. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 40% of households are one person living alone
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.1% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. A household here holds 1.9 people on average.
More households without a car or van than 68% of UK towns: 19%
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
Nothing unusual on households in terraced houses: 24%, close to the figure across England’s towns. For Wooler, the census puts households in detached houses at 22%. Every 5th household or so has no car or van.
In Wooler, 2.7% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%). Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in 94% of UK towns.
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 98% 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: 97% of Wooler · Northumberland’s towns 96% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Just over three in five residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 70% of UK towns: 51%
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
With unpaid carers at 10%, Wooler is ahead of 78% of UK towns on that count. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
25% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Wooler’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 22% have none (18%).
The places around Wooler
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooler | 1,930 | — | 59.9 | 41% | 13% |
| Belford | 1,314 | 7.9 mi | 55 | 31% | 18% |
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 Wooler’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 Wooler’s residents
What is the population of Wooler?
The 2021 Census counted 1,930 people in Wooler’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wooler?
The median age was 59.9 at the 2021 Census. 6.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 41% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wooler?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 96% across Northumberland’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wooler?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Wooler good for families?
13% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wooler’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.