Photo: Steven Brown · CC BY-SA 2.0In Duns, 26% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 92% of UK towns
With a median age of 49.9, Duns is older than 84% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 3,117 residents and 1,526 households here. Households without a car or van: 23% of the total. A household here has 2 people on average; across Scotland’s towns, 2.1.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 83% of UK towns: 27%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 58% of UK towns. Against that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Scotland’s towns. In Kelso, the oldest of Scottish Borders’ towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Duns, 49.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 82% of UK towns: 4.1% of adults are full-time students
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Across Scotland’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine or semi-routine work; Duns has 27% and 35%. As a yardstick, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Only 22% of households have dependent children in Duns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Scottish Borders’ towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
In Duns, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 3.5% across Scotland’s towns. For households with dependent children, the comparison across Scotland’s towns is 24%. Across Duns, 38% of households are one person living alone.
Duns ranks below 73% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 15%
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
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 18%; Duns has 22%. Households in terraced houses: 19% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
8.9% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 69% of UK towns don’t reach
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
A tenth of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 34% across Scotland’s towns. Lower than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 94% of residents have English as their main language. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 11% across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (7.1%) and in Africa (0.8%).
Residents with no religion: 51%, a higher share than 95% 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: 91% of Duns · Scottish Borders’ towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (7.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Pakistani (0.5%). Lower than in 92% of UK towns: 40% of residents describe themselves as Christian. The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 91% in Duns and 86% across Scotland’s towns.
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Duns, more than in 88% 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
Where just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns, Duns has 47%. Lower than in 53% of UK towns: 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. On average, 12% of residents give unpaid care across Scotland’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 94.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 24%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Duns’s adults have no qualification (17% across Scotland’s towns), and 24% have one at degree level (32%).
Ranked by age, 140th oldest of 515 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Duns in age: Wadhurst (49.8), Metheringham (49.9), Thorngumbald (50) and Smallfield (50).
The places around Duns
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duns | 3,117 | — | 49.9 | 27% | 22% |
| Eyemouth | 3,698 | 11.7 mi | 45 | 24% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Scottish Borders’ towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Scottish Borders (or Scotland), summed the same way as Duns’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 Duns’s residents
What is the population of Duns?
The 2022 Census counted 3,117 people in Duns’s locality.
What is the average age in Duns?
The median age was 49.9 at the 2022 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Duns?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Scottish Borders’ towns. 8.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Duns?
51% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Duns good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Duns’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.