Photo: DaveGorman at English Wikipedia · Public domainOnly 1.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Darton
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 15,016 residents in 6,701 households. Across Darton, 5.6% of households live in a flat or apartment. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 88% of UK towns.
Faster growth than 52% of UK towns: Darton changed by +8% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Darton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,500 people in 2011; 16,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 240. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+28%), the 0 to 15 group the smallest (+2%).
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.1%, a lower share than 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 46.1, Darton is older than 62% of UK towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 23%. In Tickhill, the oldest of South Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Darton, 46.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
6.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 90% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Darton, 31% and 27%. Compared with other places, full-time students are scarce here: 4.4%, fewer than in just over two thirds of UK towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 71% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against South Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Darton has 26%. 30% of households are one person living alone.
Below 65% of UK towns: 16% of households live in a terraced house
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
By its share of households in detached houses (33%), Darton is above just over three fifths of UK towns. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. One household in 6 has no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK make up 3.4% in Darton, less than in 86% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 18% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). Locally, 98% of residents have English as their main language.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 71% of UK towns: 53%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 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 Darton · South Yorkshire’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.4%). For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Darton has 40%.
Darton ranks below 51% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 48%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
500 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Where 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Darton has 32%.
28% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 28% of adults in Darton, 34% across England’s towns; 22% have no qualification, against 18%.
Among 333 UK towns of 11,000 to 20,000 people, the 106th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Darton in age: Louth (46), Warminster (46), Lymm (46.1) and Nantwich (46.1).
A younger town than 5 of the 7 around it: Darton
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darton | 15,016 | — | 46.1 | 23% | 26% |
| Barugh Green and Redbrook | 7,545 | 1.4 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Barnsley | 71,394 | 2.6 mi | 39.9 | 18% | 27% |
| Carlton | 2,125 | 2.6 mi | 47.1 | 22% | 25% |
| Royston | 10,755 | 2.7 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 30% |
| Dodworth | 5,981 | 3 mi | 47.4 | 23% | 25% |
| Hall Green | 2,307 | 3.3 mi | 47 | 23% | 28% |
| Silkstone | 1,682 | 3.4 mi | 55 | 31% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “South Yorkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in South Yorkshire (or England), summed the same way as Darton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Darton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,106 people in 2021, against 15,016 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to 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 Darton’s residents
What is the population of Darton?
The 2021 Census counted 15,016 people in Darton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,700 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Darton?
The median age was 46.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 62% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Darton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across South Yorkshire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Darton?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Darton good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Darton’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the 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.