Photo: Martin Clark · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Stainforth is under 37.3, younger than 91% of UK towns
With households in detached houses at 13%, Stainforth is behind 89% of UK towns on that count. At the 2021 Census, 5,999 people lived in the town, in 2,508 households. Nearly a third of households have no car or van. Lower than in 96% of UK towns: 37% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Stainforth’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Stainforth’s residents are under 37.3 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 +6% change since 2011: slower than 59% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Stainforth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,000 people in 2011; 6,300 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+18%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−10%). The steepest year was mid-2023 to mid-2024, up 60 people.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11% in Stainforth, more than in 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 10–14 than any other five-year age: 7.5% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 17%, fewer than in 82% of UK towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Tickhill, the oldest of South Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stainforth, 37.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Stainforth, 7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 83% 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%.
By class, 14% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 40% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Locally, 5% of adults are full-time students. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across England’s towns.
A family town: 33% of households have dependent children
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.
One-person households: 31%, above 62% of UK towns. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 29% across England’s towns. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.2%.
Stainforth: 31% of households live in a terraced house, above 85% 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
Flats are home to 6.4% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Fewer residents whose main language is English than 70% of UK towns: 96%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 5.6% here, fewer than in 58% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 18% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
Residents with no religion make up 46% in Stainforth, more than in 79% of UK towns
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: 92% of Stainforth · South Yorkshire’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (4.6%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and African (0.5%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than in just over half of UK towns: 92%.
More adults who have never married than 92% of UK towns: 41%
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
244 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Stainforth has more unpaid carers than 74% of UK towns, at 10%. Elsewhere, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 13% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 13% of Stainforth’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 37% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 51st youngest of 624 UK towns this size
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 Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Stainforth in age: Moorends (37.1), Finningley (37.2), City of London (37.3) and Wool (37.6).
Older than Stainforth: 5 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stainforth | 5,999 | — | 37.3 | 17% | 33% |
| Dunscroft and Hatfield | 14,000 | 1.5 mi | 45.1 | 22% | 27% |
| Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe | 13,090 | 2.8 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 25% |
| Thorne | 12,303 | 3.1 mi | 43 | 21% | 27% |
| Moorends | 5,194 | 4 mi | 37.1 | 15% | 35% |
| Armthorpe | 14,161 | 4.2 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 27% |
| Hatfield Woodhouse | 2,208 | 4.2 mi | 35.4 | 4.6% | 31% |
| Arksey | 1,578 | 5 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 24% |
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 Stainforth’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. Stainforth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,066 people in 2021, against 5,999 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 Stainforth’s residents
What is the population of Stainforth?
The 2021 Census counted 5,999 people in Stainforth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,300 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Stainforth?
The median age was 37.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 91% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stainforth?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across South Yorkshire’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stainforth?
46% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Stainforth good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Stainforth’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.