Photo: Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 54.1: Darrington is older than 95% of UK towns
By its share of households in terraced houses (4.5%), Darrington is below 98% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 64% of the total. Households without a car or van are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,194 residents in 525 households.
What the Census says about Darrington’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Darrington’s residents are under 54.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
More residents aged 65 and over than 94% of UK towns: 32%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 8.7% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. For Darrington, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.4%. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Below 71% of UK towns: 7.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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 account for 43% of Darrington’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 15%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns: 11%. Full-time students account for 4.5%.
Fewer households with dependent children than 91% of UK towns: 22%
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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 3.2%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Here, 27% of households are one person living alone. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children.
More detached houses than 98% of UK towns: 65% of households
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
Households in flats: 6.8%, below 73% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Darrington ranks below 77% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 4%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). 98% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 69% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 94% of UK towns: 30%
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: 94% of Darrington · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (1.1%). Darrington has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 67% of UK towns, at 94%. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Only 22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Darrington
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
Set against 8.7% across England’s towns, 11% of residents give unpaid care in Darrington. Higher than in 98% of UK towns: 60% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 36.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 37% of adults in Darrington (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Darrington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darrington | 1,194 | — | 54.1 | 32% | 22% |
| Pontefract | 32,982 | 1.9 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 28% |
| Knottingley | 9,516 | 2.2 mi | 38.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Holmfield | 4,150 | 2.5 mi | 39.9 | 18% | 27% |
| Byram | 1,436 | 3.3 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 23% |
| Featherstone | 11,657 | 3.7 mi | 39.9 | 19% | 27% |
| Upton | 6,332 | 3.9 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Ackworth Moor Top | 6,275 | 3.9 mi | 40.5 | 18% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Darrington’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Darrington’s residents
What is the population of Darrington?
The 2021 Census counted 1,194 people in Darrington’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Darrington?
The median age was 54.1 at the 2021 Census. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Darrington?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Darrington?
30% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Darrington good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Darrington’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). 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.