Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Thorp Arch is younger than 86% of UK towns: a median age of 38.9
Here 4.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. In 2021, the Census found 1,782 residents in Thorp Arch, living in 460 households. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 34% locally. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 87% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Thorp Arch’s people
A village people move to
20% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.9 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Thorp Arch’s residents are under 38.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
15% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
31% women, 69% men
About 45 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
Residents who moved in within the year: 20%, a higher share than 98% 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%.
In Thorp Arch, 5% of adults are full-time students, beside 7.9% across England’s towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Only 25% of households in Thorp Arch are one person living alone
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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Thorp Arch, 2.4. Add to that, on shared households of unrelated adults, Thorp Arch sits higher than 77% of UK towns: 3%. To put it in context, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. For Thorp Arch, the census puts households with dependent children at 27%.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 93% of UK towns: 7.5%
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
39% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). In one household in 13 there is no car or van.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 84% of UK towns: 3.5%
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
Residents whose main language is English: 98%, above 64% of UK towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 55% in Thorp Arch, more than in 79% 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: 89% of Thorp Arch · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 5.3%. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Thorp Arch sits lower than just over two thirds of UK towns: 89%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 53% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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 make up 6.3% of residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
16% of Thorp Arch’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 37% have one at degree level (34%).
Thorp Arch is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorp Arch | 1,782 | — | 38.9 | 15% | 27% |
| Boston Spa | 6,358 | 1.5 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 27% |
| Wetherby | 11,711 | 2.7 mi | 50.8 | 31% | 23% |
| Bramham | 1,764 | 2.7 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 29% |
| Tadcaster | 6,339 | 3.4 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 23% |
| Collingham | 2,362 | 3.6 mi | 50 | 28% | 28% |
| Tockwith | 1,788 | 3.7 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 31% |
| Bardsey | 1,819 | 4.9 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 27% |
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 Thorp Arch’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 Thorp Arch’s residents
What is the population of Thorp Arch?
The 2021 Census counted 1,782 people in Thorp Arch’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thorp Arch?
The median age was 38.9 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thorp Arch?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thorp Arch?
33% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 5.3% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Thorp Arch good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thorp Arch’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.