Photo: Billy McCrorie · CC BY-SA 2.0Renfrew ranks above 99% of UK towns on households in flats: 46%
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 18%; Renfrew has 10%. The 2022 Census counted 23,812 residents in 11,410 households. Locally, 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Half of the town’s residents are under 42.1, younger than in just over two thirds of UK towns.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 67% of UK towns: 20%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 7.7% of residents. 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 58% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Scotland’s towns. In Kilbarchan, the oldest of Renfrewshire’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Renfrew, 42.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.6%, a higher share than 89% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
A third of Renfrew’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, full-time students come to 9.4%.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 94% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Renfrewshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Across Scotland’s towns, 3.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Renfrew, 1.7%. By contrast, at 39%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 98% of UK towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 23% locally.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 89% of UK towns, at 26%
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
Households in terraced houses: 22%, above 55% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 29% of households have no car or van across Scotland’s towns.
Renfrew: 8.8% of residents born outside the UK
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
95% of residents have English as their main language (Scotland’s towns: 94%). The share of residents born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns is 11%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (3.8%) and in EU countries (3.2%).
More residents with no religion than 73% of UK towns: 45%
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: 87% of Renfrew · Renfrewshire’s towns 90% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (4%), Indian (2.4%) and Pakistani (2.3%). 87% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 74% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Scotland’s towns: 51%.
In Renfrew, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 83% of UK towns
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
At 12%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across Scotland’s towns. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 77% of UK towns: 44%. By way of comparison, two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. 691 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
Degree-level qualifications reach 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 28% of its adults qualified to degree level, Renfrew compares with 32% across Scotland’s towns; another 17% hold no qualification (17%). The highest qualification of 10% is A levels, often students still at university.
Among 249 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people, the 104th youngest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Brixham the oldest (55.6). Nearest to Renfrew in age: Spennymoor (42.1), Rugeley (42.1), Chichester (42.2) and Rushden (42.3).
Of the 7 towns nearest Renfrew, 6 are older
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renfrew | 23,812 | — | 42.1 | 20% | 23% |
| Clydebank | 26,220 | 2.6 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 22% |
| Paisley | 79,351 | 2.8 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 22% |
| Erskine | 14,857 | 2.9 mi | 46.3 | 22% | 26% |
| Duntocher and Hardgate | 6,573 | 3.7 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 23% |
| Faifley | 4,785 | 3.8 mi | 36.2 | 12% | 33% |
| Bearsden | 28,507 | 3.9 mi | 48 | 26% | 31% |
| Bowling and Old Kilpatrick | 4,761 | 4.3 mi | 50.6 | 22% | 19% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in term time. 20 March 2022 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.
- “Renfrewshire’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Renfrewshire (or Scotland), summed the same way as Renfrew’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 Renfrew’s residents
What is the population of Renfrew?
The 2022 Census counted 23,812 people in Renfrew’s locality.
What is the average age in Renfrew?
The median age was 42.1 at the 2022 Census, younger than 68% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Renfrew?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 90% across Renfrewshire’s towns. 8.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Renfrew?
45% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 2.9% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Renfrew good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Renfrew’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.