Photo: Stephen Sweeney · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 93% of UK towns: half of Faifley is under 36.2
Households in detached houses: 3.4% here and 18% across Scotland’s towns. At the 2022 Census Faifley was home to 4,785 people in 2,144 households. On the census count, nearly half of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. The town has fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 89% of UK towns, at 42%.
What the Census says about Faifley’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Faifley’s residents are under 36.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of flats
64% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 39% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
33% of Faifley’s 2,144 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 89% of UK towns and the highest share in West Dunbartonshire. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: Scotland’s Census 2022 (output areas summed to the 2022 locality).
In Faifley, 12% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
35–39 is the most common age band: 7.9% of residents. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Scotland’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 93% of UK towns. In Duntocher and Hardgate, the oldest of West Dunbartonshire’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Faifley, 36.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Faifley ranks above 94% of UK towns on full-time students: 8.2%
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
In Faifley, nearly a fifth of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 25% across Scotland’s towns. Full-time students: 9.4% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 20 March 2022, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Faifley sits above 89% of UK towns for households with dependent children (33%)
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Dunbartonshire’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
Households in Faifley hold 2.2 people on average (Scotland’s towns: 2.1). Locally, 36% of households are one person living alone. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 61% of UK towns. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 24% across Scotland’s towns.
64% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 29% across Scotland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Faifley comes in at 39%. The census found that 20% of households live in a terraced house here.
97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 55% 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
Of residents born abroad, 20% arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns. By way of comparison, 94% of residents have English as their main language across Scotland’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) or in Africa (1.9%).
50% of residents said they have no religion, a share 94% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Faifley · West Dunbartonshire’s towns 94% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
91% of residents describe themselves as White British; across Scotland’s towns the figure is 86%. Set beside that, 51% of residents said they have no religion across Scotland’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.1%), African (2.2%) and Mixed or multiple (1.1%).
31% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
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
Some 175 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. To put it in context, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 13%, more than in 99% of UK towns.
Among adults, 15% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 15% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 23% hold no qualification (17%). Many still at university: 9.6% list A levels as their highest qualification.
40th youngest of 696 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Faifley in age: Iwade (36.1), Fitzwilliam and Kinsley (36.2), Eastchurch (36.3) and Dunton Green (36.3).
Every nearby town is older than Faifley
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2022. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faifley | 4,785 | — | 36.2 | 12% | 33% |
| Duntocher and Hardgate | 6,573 | 0.8 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 23% |
| Clydebank | 26,220 | 1.4 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 22% |
| Bearsden | 28,507 | 2.4 mi | 48 | 26% | 31% |
| Bowling and Old Kilpatrick | 4,761 | 2.5 mi | 50.6 | 22% | 19% |
| Milngavie | 12,758 | 2.9 mi | 50.4 | 28% | 25% |
| Erskine | 14,857 | 2.9 mi | 46.3 | 22% | 26% |
| Renfrew | 23,812 | 3.8 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in term time. 20 March 2022 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.
- “West Dunbartonshire’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in West Dunbartonshire (or Scotland), summed the same way as Faifley’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 Faifley’s residents
What is the population of Faifley?
The 2022 Census counted 4,785 people in Faifley’s locality.
What is the average age in Faifley?
The median age was 36.2 at the 2022 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Faifley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 94% across West Dunbartonshire’s towns. 6.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Faifley?
50% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Faifley good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Faifley’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.