Photo: Jim Barton · CC BY-SA 2.0Selkirk sits below 98% of UK towns for households with dependent children (17%)
Set against 3.5% across Scotland’s towns, 0.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Selkirk. The town is home to 4,669 residents in 2,402 households, by the 2022 Census. Locally, just over a third of residents describe themselves as Christian. Households in flats are more common here than in 97% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Selkirk’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Selkirk’s residents are under 51.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% 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 Selkirk is over 51.7
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
No age band is larger than 70–74: 8.3% of residents, 1.7 times the share across Scotland’s towns. At 8.4%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 87% of UK towns. 30% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Selkirk, 51.7. 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.
A lower share of full-time students than 99% of UK towns, at 2.9%
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
32% of Selkirk’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 28% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Measured more widely, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
One-person households make up 41% in Selkirk, more 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.
A household here has 2 people on average; across Scotland’s towns, 2.1. Across the comparison, 38% of households are one person living alone across Scotland’s towns.
Selkirk: 20% of households have no car or van, above 71% 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
Set against 18% across Scotland’s towns, a fifth of households live in a detached house in Selkirk. On households in terraced houses, Selkirk sits higher than 56% of UK towns: 22%. Across the comparison, 29% of households have no car or van across Scotland’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 81% of UK towns: 3.7%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in 88% of UK towns. Against that, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. Where just over a third of those born abroad across Scotland’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 19%.
Selkirk sits above 99% of UK towns for residents with no religion (58%)
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 Selkirk · Scottish Borders’ towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.4%) and Pakistani (0.2%). 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 85% of UK towns. Across Scotland’s towns, 51% of residents said they have no religion.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 64% of UK towns, at 30%
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%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Scotland’s towns. 121 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. On married adults and civil partners, Selkirk sits lower than 54% of UK towns: 47%. Across Scotland’s towns, adults who have never married come to 40%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 28%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Selkirk, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 32% across Scotland’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (17%).
Among 696 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, the 104th oldest
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Selkirk in age: Saltford (51.6), Lostwithiel (51.6), Brampton (51.8) and Barnard Castle (51.8).
Every neighbour of Selkirk has a younger population
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selkirk | 4,669 | — | 51.7 | 30% | 17% |
| Galashiels | 10,071 | 4.8 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 19% |
| Langlee | 3,530 | 5 mi | 39 | 16% | 28% |
| Burnfoot | 2,797 | 8.3 mi | 38.5 | 16% | 35% |
| Hawick | 10,715 | 8.8 mi | 51.6 | 28% | 17% |
| Innerleithen | 3,152 | 9.9 mi | 50.4 | 26% | 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 Selkirk’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 Selkirk’s residents
What is the population of Selkirk?
The 2022 Census counted 4,669 people in Selkirk’s locality.
What is the average age in Selkirk?
The median age was 51.7 at the 2022 Census, older than 91% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Selkirk?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Scottish Borders’ towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Selkirk?
58% said they had no religion and 35% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Selkirk good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Selkirk’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.