Photo: Tim Green · CC BY 2.0More terraced houses than 89% of UK towns: 35% of households
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Ripponden has 11%. 4,775 residents in 2,004 households: that is Ripponden at the 2021 Census. The share of households with dependent children stands at 32%. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 26%, fewer than in four fifths of UK towns.
Ripponden sits above 66% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (10%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 44.1, Ripponden is younger than 53% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 18%. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ripponden, 44.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
6.4% of adults are full-time students, a share 88% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
Against a figure of 11% across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year in Ripponden comes in at 9.2%. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Ripponden sits below 82% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (1.8%)
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.
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Against that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
More flats than 74% of UK towns: 16% of households in Ripponden
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
Census figures put households in detached houses at 29% in Ripponden. Elsewhere, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 89% of UK towns: 3.1%
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
With residents whose main language is English at 99%, Ripponden is ahead of 87% of UK towns on that count. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.4%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Ripponden sits above 70% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (94%)
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 Ripponden · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.4%). On residents with no religion, Ripponden sits higher than 64% of UK towns: 43%. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 50% here.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 72% of UK towns, at 51%
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
Unpaid carers: 8.9%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: 31% of the total. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 42%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 42% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 11% hold no qualification (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 17%.
Of 695 UK towns its size (3,000 to 6,000 people), the 214th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7), the oldest. Nearest to Ripponden in age: Loughor (43.9), Little Paxton (44), Wheathampstead (44.1) and Aston Clinton (44.1).
Of the 7 towns nearest Ripponden, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripponden | 4,775 | — | 44.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Sowerby Bridge | 4,483 | 2.6 mi | 41.7 | 18% | 30% |
| Holywell Green and Stainland | 2,799 | 3 mi | 40.5 | 14% | 32% |
| Outlane | 1,172 | 3 mi | 48.6 | 23% | 27% |
| Luddenden Foot | 2,148 | 3.9 mi | 44.9 | 17% | 29% |
| Elland | 15,788 | 4.4 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Mytholmroyd | 3,852 | 4.5 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 24% |
| Halifax | 88,111 | 4.7 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
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 Ripponden’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 Ripponden’s residents
What is the population of Ripponden?
The 2021 Census counted 4,775 people in Ripponden’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ripponden?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 53% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ripponden?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ripponden?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Ripponden good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ripponden’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.