Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 3.0Boston Spa ranks below 98% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 1.2%
7.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. On the census count, a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Boston Spa has more households in detached houses than 74% of UK towns, at 39%. There were 2,818 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 6,358 residents.
From 2011 to 2024, 53% of UK towns grew faster than Boston Spa: +7%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Boston Spa’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,800 people in 2011; 6,100 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+21%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−13%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2018 to mid-2019, 130 people.
Above 83% of UK towns: 27% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 47.8, Boston Spa is older than 73% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. 70–74 is the most common age band: 7.3% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Boston Spa, 47.8. 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.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 72% of UK towns: 7.7%
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%.
Where 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns, Boston Spa has 5.2%. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 62% of UK towns: 2.3 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
31% of households are one person living alone, against 30% across England’s towns. Locally, 27% of households have dependent children.
Below 62% of UK towns: 8.7% of households live in a flat or apartment
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 Boston Spa. Locally, 14% of households have no car or van. The wider picture: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Boston Spa sits below 73% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (4.3%)
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). At 99%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in 74% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 14% (England’s towns: 21%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 59% in Boston Spa, more than in 92% 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: 95% of Boston Spa · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as White British at 95%, Boston Spa is ahead of 76% of UK towns on that count. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents with no religion account for 35%.
Married adults and civil partners: 56%, a higher share than 90% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 150 residents. Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%. Unpaid carers make up 9.3%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 46%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Boston Spa, 46%, and 14% have none, against 18%.
Ranked by age, 233rd oldest of 709 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Boston Spa in age: Chiswell Green (47.7), Cross Hills (47.8), Holmes Chapel (47.8) and Elm and Emneth (47.8).
Of the 7 towns nearest Boston Spa, 5 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Spa | 6,358 | — | 47.8 | 27% | 27% |
| Thorp Arch | 1,782 | 1.5 mi | 38.9 | 15% | 27% |
| Bramham | 1,764 | 1.5 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 29% |
| Collingham | 2,362 | 2.4 mi | 50 | 28% | 28% |
| Wetherby | 11,711 | 2.4 mi | 50.8 | 31% | 23% |
| Bardsey | 1,819 | 3.5 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 27% |
| East Keswick | 1,145 | 4 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 28% |
| Tadcaster | 6,339 | 4 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 23% |
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.
- “West Yorkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Yorkshire (or England), summed the same way as Boston Spa’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. Boston Spa’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,170 people in 2021, against 6,358 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 Boston Spa’s residents
What is the population of Boston Spa?
The 2021 Census counted 6,358 people in Boston Spa’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,100 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Boston Spa?
The median age was 47.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 73% of UK towns. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Boston Spa?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Boston Spa?
35% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Boston Spa good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Boston Spa’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.