Photo: John H Darch · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 98% of UK towns: 17% of households have dependent children
Set against 39% across Scotland’s towns, 51% of households live in a flat or apartment in Hawick. Census day 2021: 10,715 residents and 5,608 households locally. Here, 55% of residents said they have no religion. 45% of households are one person living alone, more than in 99% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Hawick’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Hawick’s residents are under 51.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 19% across Scotland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
Older than 91% of UK towns: half of Hawick is over 51.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 28% here, more than in 84% of UK towns. In Kelso, the oldest of Scottish Borders’ towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hawick, 51.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
In Hawick, 3.4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 96% of UK towns
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; Hawick has 24% and 35%. On average, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Hawick 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: 1.6%, below 90% of UK towns.
15% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 85% 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
Compared with 19% across Scotland’s towns, 17% of households live in a terraced house here. 51% of households live in a flat, more than in 99% of UK towns; 15% in a detached house, against 18% across Scotland’s towns. Households without a car or van: 29% of the total.
Hawick sits below 69% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (4.6%)
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns: 11%. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 98%, more than in 54% of UK towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 20% of those born abroad (Scotland’s towns: 34%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 96% of UK towns: 37%
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 Hawick · Scottish Borders’ towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%, above three quarters of UK towns. Against that, nearly two in five residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Chinese (0.3%).
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 76% 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
Adults who have never married: 34% here and 40% across Scotland’s towns. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 42% across Scotland’s towns. At 50 hours or more a week, 234 people give unpaid care.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 20% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 20% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 24% hold no qualification (17%).
28th oldest of 348 UK towns of 8,000 to 14,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Stoke Gifford (27.8), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Hawick in age: Longton (50.9), Greasby (51.4), Ledbury (51.7) and Sandown (51.7).
Hawick sits below 1 of its 3 closest neighbours on median age
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
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 Hawick’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 Hawick’s residents
What is the population of Hawick?
The 2022 Census counted 10,715 people in Hawick’s locality.
What is the average age in Hawick?
The median age was 51.6 at the 2022 Census, older than 91% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hawick?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Scottish Borders’ towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hawick?
55% said they had no religion and 37% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Hawick good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Hawick’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.