Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0In Galashiels, 19% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 97% of UK towns
45% of households are one person living alone, against 38% across Scotland’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 48%. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in 93% of UK towns. Galashiels had 10,071 residents in 5,148 households at the 2022 Census.
Galashiels sits above 93% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (12%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over (Scotland’s towns: 19%). More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents. With a median age of 45.3, Galashiels is older than 56% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Galashiels, 45.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 7.2% in Galashiels, more than in 92% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
In Galashiels, 29% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. The wider picture: nearly one in ten adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Galashiels households average 1.9 people, smaller than in 99% of UK towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.9%, near enough the figure across Scotland’s towns.
15% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 73% of UK towns
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
With households in detached houses at 17%, Galashiels is behind 81% of UK towns on that count. For comparison, 19% of households live in a terraced house across Scotland’s towns. 29% of households have no car or van.
In Galashiels, 7.6% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 61% of UK towns
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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 27% of that group, against 34% across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 11%. Census figures put residents whose main language is English at 96% in Galashiels.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns, at 59%
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 Galashiels · Scottish Borders’ towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 32%, below 99% of UK towns. On average, 51% of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Across Galashiels, just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British.
10% of residents give unpaid care, a share 72% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Adults who have never married are about as common here as across Scotland’s towns: 40%. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care across Scotland’s towns. 219 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 29% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 29% of its adults qualified to degree level, Galashiels compares with 32% across Scotland’s towns; another 17% hold no qualification (17%). 12% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
187th oldest of 456 UK towns of 7,000 to 14,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.8 in Stoke Gifford to 61 in Seaton. Nearest to Galashiels in age: Countesthorpe (45.3), Wrecclesham (45.3), Dalton-in-Furness (45.4) and Longridge (45.4).
Older than Galashiels: 2 of the 3 towns nearby
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galashiels | 10,071 | — | 45.3 | 23% | 19% |
| Langlee | 3,530 | 1.4 mi | 39 | 16% | 28% |
| Selkirk | 4,669 | 4.8 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 17% |
| Innerleithen | 3,152 | 9.7 mi | 50.4 | 26% | 22% |
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.
- “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 Galashiels’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 Galashiels’s residents
What is the population of Galashiels?
The 2022 Census counted 10,071 people in Galashiels’s locality.
What is the average age in Galashiels?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2022 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Galashiels?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Scottish Borders’ towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Galashiels?
59% said they had no religion and 32% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 1% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Galashiels good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Galashiels’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.