Photo: Jennifer Petrie · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53.4: Kelso is older than 94% of UK towns
Where 86% of residents describe themselves as White British across Scotland’s towns, Kelso has 96%. The town’s 3,573 households held 7,004 residents at the 2022 Census. In Kelso, 1.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. At 18%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 97% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Kelso’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Kelso’s residents are under 53.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% 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).
Kelso ranks above 95% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 33%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 9.3% of residents, against 12% across Scotland’s towns. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Scotland’s towns. 55–59 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kelso, 53.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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 95% of UK towns: 3.5% 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, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine work; in Kelso, 30% and 30%. For full-time students, the comparison across Scotland’s towns is 9.4%.
1.9 people per household, fewer 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.
One-person households make up 39%, against 38% across Scotland’s towns.
Kelso ranks above 94% of UK towns on households in flats: 28%
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
In Kelso, just over a fifth of households have no car or van, beside 29% across Scotland’s towns. To put it in context, nearly two in five households live in a flat or apartment across Scotland’s towns. The census found that 15% of households live in a terraced house locally. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 70% of UK towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 4.2%, a lower share than 75% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 22% of those born abroad (against 34% across Scotland’s towns). Across Kelso, 99% of residents have English as their main language. For comparison, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns.
44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 82% 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: 96% of Kelso · Scottish Borders’ towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Across Scotland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 51%; Kelso has 50%. Measured more widely, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.4%) and African (0.3%).
In Kelso, 28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 78% 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
188 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 59% of UK towns. As a yardstick, two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. With unpaid carers at 10%, Kelso is ahead of 77% of UK towns on that count.
25% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 25% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 21% hold no qualification (17%).
38th highest median age among 474 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000
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 Red Lodge (30.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Kelso in age: Wareham (52.6), New Alresford (52.8), Saltburn-by-the-Sea (53.5) and Rainford (53.5).
The places around Kelso
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelso | 7,004 | — | 53.4 | 33% | 18% |
| Jedburgh | 4,131 | 9.7 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 22% |
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 Kelso’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 Kelso’s residents
What is the population of Kelso?
The 2022 Census counted 7,004 people in Kelso’s locality.
What is the average age in Kelso?
The median age was 53.4 at the 2022 Census, older than 94% of UK towns. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kelso?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Scottish Borders’ towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kelso?
50% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Kelso good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Kelso’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.