Photo: Mike Pennington · CC BY-SA 2.0One-person homes: 45% of households in Lerwick
20% of households have dependent children, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. The 2022 Census counted 6,714 residents in 3,363 households. For Lerwick, the census puts households without a car or van at 27%. The town has more households in flats than 89% of UK towns, at 23%.
What the Census says about Lerwick’s people
More with no religion than most
63% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 30% Christian, against 51% and 39% across Scotland’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 12% in Lerwick, more than in 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
With a median age of 43.7, Lerwick is younger than 56% of UK towns. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.5% of residents. Across Scotland’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over; here, 22%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lerwick, 43.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
A student town: 4.9% of adults study full-time
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
By class, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). Across Scotland’s towns, nearly one in ten adults are full-time students.
2 people per household, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Shetland Islands’ towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Against a figure of 3.5% across Scotland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Lerwick comes in at 2%.
Only 15% of households live in a terraced house in Lerwick
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
Households in detached houses make up 24%, against 18% across Scotland’s towns. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house across Scotland’s towns.
96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 69% 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
Compared with 11% across Scotland’s towns, 7.1% of residents were born outside the UK here. The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). To put it in context, 94% of residents have English as their main language across Scotland’s towns.
Residents with no religion make up 63% in Lerwick, more than in 99% 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 Lerwick · Shetland Islands’ towns 91% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (4.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Chinese (0.5%). At 30%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 99% of UK towns. For comparison, just over half of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Across Scotland’s towns, 86% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Lerwick, 91%.
A lower share of married adults and civil partners than 96% of UK towns, at 36%
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
The share of unpaid carers is 11%, against 12% across Scotland’s towns. On the census count, just over two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Married adults and civil partners: 42% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
Degree-level qualifications reach 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Lerwick, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 32% across Scotland’s towns, while 16% have no qualification at all (17%).
Ranked by age, 174th youngest of 474 UK towns this size
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 Lerwick in age: Twyford (43.7), Newbridge (43.7), Oundle (43.8) and Stonehouse (43.8).
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Shetland Islands’ towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Shetland Islands (or Scotland), summed the same way as Lerwick’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 Lerwick’s residents
What is the population of Lerwick?
The 2022 Census counted 6,714 people in Lerwick’s locality.
What is the average age in Lerwick?
The median age was 43.7 at the 2022 Census, younger than 56% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lerwick?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 91% across Shetland Islands’ towns. 7.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lerwick?
63% said they had no religion and 30% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Lerwick good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Lerwick’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.