Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer families than 95% of UK towns: 20% of households have children
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of one-person households is 38%; Kirkwall has 44%. Households without a car or van account for 26%. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 35% here, fewer than in 98% of UK towns. At the 2022 Census, 7,393 people lived locally, in 3,751 households.
23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 56% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
With a median age of 44, Kirkwall is younger than 54% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Scotland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.4% of residents. Here one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Scotland’s towns is 12%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kirkwall, 44. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 3.8% in Kirkwall, less than in 90% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs take in 28% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 34% (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). Typically, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
2 people per household, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Orkney Islands’ towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (Scotland’s towns: 3.5%).
13% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 64% of UK towns don’t reach
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2022. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
The share of households in detached houses tops 63% of UK towns: 34%. To put it in context, nearly two in five households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 17% of the total.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 66% of UK towns: 4.8%
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2022.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). As a yardstick, 11% of residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Kirkwall sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 98%. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 30% of residents born abroad, beside 34% across Scotland’s towns.
Residents with no religion make up 58% in Kirkwall, more than in 99% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2022 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 95% of Kirkwall · Orkney Islands’ towns 95% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 86%; Kirkwall has 95%. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and African (0.2%). The usual figure: 51% of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 80% of UK towns: 37%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 3 and over), Census 2022.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 3 and over
Set against 12% across Scotland’s towns, 11% of residents give unpaid care in Kirkwall. Adults who have never married make up 40% across Scotland’s towns. For Kirkwall, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 42%.
Among adults, 29% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 29% of adults in Kirkwall, 32% across Scotland’s towns; 18% have no qualification, against 17%.
217th lowest median age among 539 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Red Lodge is the youngest (30.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Kirkwall in age: Lydney (44), Great Wakering (44), Crofton (44.1) and Aston Clinton (44.1).
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Orkney Islands’ towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Orkney Islands (or Scotland), summed the same way as Kirkwall’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. National Records of Scotland adjusts small 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 Kirkwall’s residents
What is the population of Kirkwall?
The 2022 Census counted 7,393 people in Kirkwall’s locality.
What is the average age in Kirkwall?
The median age was 44 at the 2022 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kirkwall?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 95% across Orkney Islands’ towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kirkwall?
58% said they had no religion and 35% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Kirkwall good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Kirkwall’s schools page.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality (UV101b, UV103, UV104, UV113, UV201, UV204b, UV205, UV212, UV301, UV402, UV405, UV406, UV501, UV607, UV801). 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.