Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.030% of households have no car or van, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
By its share of one-person households (34%), Doncaster is above just over four fifths of UK towns. There were 37,879 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 87,440 residents. In Doncaster, 41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The town has more households in flats than 72% of UK towns, at 16%.
What the Census says about Doncaster’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in South Yorkshire
22% of residents were born outside the UK, against 11% across South Yorkshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (13%) and in the Middle East and Asia (4.9%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Doncaster’s residents are under 38.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +12% change since 2011: faster than 66% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Doncaster’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 83,200 people in 2011; 92,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 2,470. Change by age ran from +31% for the 30 to 44 to −9% for the 16 to 29.
Younger than 86% of UK towns: half of Doncaster is under 38.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, against 17% in Doncaster. Higher than in four fifths of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 8.1% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Doncaster, 38.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Doncaster sits above 71% of UK towns for full-time students (5.4%)
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 24% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 34% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%. One in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 87% of UK towns: 3.6%
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.
The typical household size is 2.3 people. Across the comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 28% of the total.
In Doncaster, 20% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 72% of UK towns
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
There is little gap on households in terraced houses: 24%, about the same as across England’s towns. 16% of households live in a flat, more than in 72% of UK towns; 20% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
More residents born abroad than 94% of UK towns: 22% in Doncaster
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
In Doncaster, 84% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (13%) and in the Middle East and Asia (4.9%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
A lower White British share than 92% of UK towns: 72% of residents
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: 72% of Doncaster · South Yorkshire’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (13%), Pakistani (2.9%) and Mixed or multiple (2.3%). Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 36%, fewer than in four fifths of UK towns. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
In Doncaster, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 88% of UK towns
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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8.7%, about the same as across England’s towns. For 2,417 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Doncaster’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 25% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 33 in Central Doncaster & Hyde Park to 49 in Old Cantley, Auckley & Finningley
The town’s 12 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Old Cantley, Auckley & Finningley is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Central Doncaster & Hyde Park the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Warmsworth, Braithwell & Stainton (33% of households).
86 UK towns of 61,000 to 118,000 people: this is the 34th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Paignton the oldest (48.4). Nearest to Doncaster in age: Crewe (38.7), Rochester (38.8), Stockport (39.1) and Rugby (39.2).
Doncaster sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster | 87,440 | — | 38.9 | 17% | 28% |
| Sprotbrough | 7,546 | 2.4 mi | 47 | 24% | 27% |
| Bentley | 12,044 | 2.5 mi | 36.5 | 15% | 29% |
| Arksey | 1,578 | 2.8 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 24% |
| Scawthorpe and Cusworth | 13,020 | 2.8 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 28% |
| Armthorpe | 14,161 | 2.8 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 27% |
| Branton | 1,823 | 3.2 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 22% |
| New Rossington and Rossington | 13,911 | 3.4 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Doncaster’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. Doncaster’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 86,506 people in 2021, against 87,440 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 Doncaster’s residents
What is the population of Doncaster?
The 2021 Census counted 87,440 people in Doncaster’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 92,800 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Doncaster?
The median age was 38.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 86% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Doncaster?
72% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across South Yorkshire’s towns. 22% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Doncaster?
36% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 6.1% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Doncaster good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Warmsworth, Braithwell & Stainton (33% of households). Schools are on Doncaster’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.