Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 3.0Only 8.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Menston
Married adults and civil partners make up 56%, against 44% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 5,905 people lived in Menston, in 2,608 households. In Menston, 25% of households live in a flat or apartment. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 80% of UK towns.
Menston is older than 57% of UK towns: a median age of 45.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 7.5% of residents. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Menston, 45.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 4.3%, a lower share than 73% 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, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Menston has 9.9%. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, below 74% of UK towns
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 average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Here, 29% of households are one person living alone. Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.3% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Menston sits below 74% of UK towns for households without a car or van (11%)
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
The share of households in terraced houses is 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. One household in 9 has no car or van.
More residents whose main language is English than 81% of UK towns: 99%
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
Since 2017: 15% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 4.8%, fewer than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Fewer residents with no religion than 65% of UK towns: 39%
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: 93% of Menston · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Menston, 93%. For residents with no religion, the comparison across England’s towns is 37%. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Pakistani (0.8%).
Adults who have never married: 27%, a lower share than 85% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 99. On unpaid carers, Menston sits lower than 87% of UK towns: 7.9%. Measured more widely, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
51% of adults are qualified to degree level
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 Menston, 51%, and 9.1% have none, against 18%.
Among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, the 288th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Menston in age: Langley Park (45.4), Dalton-in-Furness (45.4), Clayton West and Scissett (45.4) and Chapel-en-le-Frith (45.4).
4 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Menston
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Menston’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 Menston’s residents
What is the population of Menston?
The 2021 Census counted 5,905 people in Menston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Menston?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 57% of UK towns. 8.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Menston?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Menston?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Menston good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Menston’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.