Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 4.0In Garforth, 12% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 83% of UK towns
By its share of one-person households (27%), Garforth is below 73% of UK towns. At the same time, residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in nearly four fifths of UK towns. The town’s 6,502 households held 15,148 residents at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 25% in the town.
A growing town: +8% since 2011, faster than 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Garforth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,800 people in 2011; 16,000 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2014 to mid-2015, 250 people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+30%) and the 45 to 64 least (±0%).
A median age of 46.8: Garforth is older than 67% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.6% of residents. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 52% of UK towns. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Garforth, 46.8. 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.
Full-time students: 5.7%, a higher share than 78% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Garforth has 38% and 21%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A lower share of households with dependent children than 56% of UK towns, at 27%
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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, Garforth sits lower than 53% of UK towns: 2.3%. Set beside that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in flats than 71% of UK towns: 7.3%
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 detached houses: 21%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. 17% of households have no car or van.
Only 3.8% of residents were born outside the UK in Garforth
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 (1.7%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Garforth has more residents whose main language is English than 78% of UK towns, at 99%. 13% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
In Garforth, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 69% 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: 94% of Garforth · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.5%). Garforth has fewer residents with no religion than nearly two thirds of UK towns, at 39%. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 71% 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
30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 39%. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%. For Garforth, the census puts unpaid carers at 9.3%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 32%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
32% of Garforth’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
From a median age of 46 in Garforth East to 54 in Garforth South, Swillington & Little Preston
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Garforth South, Swillington & Little Preston is the oldest area, with 34% aged 65 or over; Garforth East the youngest (median age 46). Families with children are most common in Garforth East (29% of households).
Of 333 UK towns its size (11,000 to 20,000 people), the 85th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Garforth in age: Ramsbottom (46.7), Lewes (46.7), Eastwood (46.8) and Hawarden (46.8).
Around Garforth, 3 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garforth | 15,148 | — | 46.8 | 25% | 27% |
| Kippax | 10,299 | 1.6 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Micklefield | 2,064 | 2.2 mi | 38 | 17% | 28% |
| Swillington | 3,077 | 2.3 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 22% |
| Barwick in Elmet | 2,180 | 2.8 mi | 54.2 | 32% | 21% |
| Allerton Bywater | 6,958 | 2.8 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 34% |
| Scholes (Leeds) | 2,270 | 3.2 mi | 51.6 | 30% | 25% |
| Aberford | 1,551 | 3.3 mi | 46.4 | 21% | 30% |
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 Garforth’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. Garforth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,611 people in 2021, against 15,148 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 Garforth’s residents
What is the population of Garforth?
The 2021 Census counted 15,148 people in Garforth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,000 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Garforth?
The median age was 46.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 67% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Garforth?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Garforth?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Garforth good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Garforth East (29% of households). Schools are on Garforth’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.