Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.055% describe themselves as Christian, more than in 79% of UK towns
39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 35% in Thorne. For Thorne, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 10%. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 85% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Thorne was home to 12,303 people in 5,408 households.
From 2011 to 2024, Thorne outgrew 53% of UK towns: +8%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Thorne’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,700 people in 2011; 13,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+24%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−4%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2021 to mid-2022, 220 people.
A median age of 43: Thorne is younger than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 18% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in Thorne. More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.5% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Thorne, 43. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Thorne ranks below 74% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.3%
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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 7.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Thorne. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Thorne households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 61% 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.
Where 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, Thorne has 2.7%. One-person households account for 31%.
A lower share of households in flats than 58% of UK towns, at 9.2%
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house in Thorne. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns. Across Thorne, 21% of households live in a detached house.
Thorne ranks below 81% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 94%
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
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 33%. Against that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Across Thorne, 7.9% of residents were born outside the UK.
Fewer residents with no religion than 67% of UK towns: 38%
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 Thorne · South Yorkshire’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British in Thorne. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (6.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and African (0.2%).
10% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 68% 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
427 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On average, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 77% of UK towns: 44%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 18%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 18% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 29% hold no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 142nd youngest of 382 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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Thorne in age: Abertillery (42.9), Brough (43), North Wingfield and Holmewood (43) and Wymondham (43).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Thorne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorne | 12,303 | — | 43 | 21% | 27% |
| Moorends | 5,194 | 1.3 mi | 37.1 | 15% | 35% |
| Stainforth | 5,999 | 3.1 mi | 37.3 | 17% | 33% |
| Dunscroft and Hatfield | 14,000 | 3.5 mi | 45.1 | 22% | 27% |
| Hatfield Woodhouse | 2,208 | 4.7 mi | 35.4 | 4.6% | 31% |
| Crowle | 3,969 | 5.1 mi | 47.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe | 13,090 | 5.6 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 25% |
| Rawcliffe | 1,580 | 6 mi | 47 | 22% | 27% |
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 Thorne’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. Thorne’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,336 people in 2021, against 12,303 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 Thorne’s residents
What is the population of Thorne?
The 2021 Census counted 12,303 people in Thorne’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,700 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Thorne?
The median age was 43 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thorne?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across South Yorkshire’s towns. 7.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thorne?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Thorne good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thorne’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.