First Presbyterian Church (Non Subscribing) · Photo: NateBergin · CC BY 4.0Metropolitan Lisburn is younger than 96% of towns in England and Wales: a median age of 35.3
The figure for households without a car or van is 27% in Metropolitan Lisburn and 25% across Northern Ireland’s towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 32,643, in 11,355 households. Census figures put households in detached houses at 15% in the town. On adults who have never married, Metropolitan Lisburn sits higher than 97% of towns in England and Wales: 47%.
What the Census says about Metropolitan Lisburn’s people
A town of families
36% of Metropolitan Lisburn’s 11,355 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 95% of towns in England and Wales. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Metropolitan Lisburn’s residents are under 35.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical town in England and Wales. 13% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: NISRA Census 2021 (data zones summed to the settlement).
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 95% of towns in England and Wales: 12%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
5–9 is the most common age band: 7.8% of residents. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 94% of towns in England and Wales: 13%. To put it in context, 17% of residents are 65 or over across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Median age of towns in England and Wales of 2,500+
■ Metropolitan Lisburn, 35.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.
Below 95% of towns in England and Wales: 6.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the 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%.
Full-time students are about as common here as across Northern Ireland’s towns: 8.5%. As a yardstick, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Northern Ireland’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Metropolitan Lisburn ranks above 95% of towns in England and Wales on households with dependent children: 36%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Belfast’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
People per household
Northern Ireland’s towns.
The typical household size is 2.5 people, against 2.3 across Northern Ireland’s towns. Locally, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Against that, 29% of households have dependent children across Northern Ireland’s towns.
A town of flats: 17% of households live in one
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 figure for households in terraced houses is 30% in Metropolitan Lisburn and 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. For households in flats, the comparison across Northern Ireland’s towns is 14%.
Below 70% of towns in England and Wales: 96% of residents have English as their main language
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 15%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born outside the UK make up 5.5%, against 10% across Northern Ireland’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%). Measured more widely, 94% of residents have English as their main language across Northern Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 99% of towns in England and Wales: 11%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White · all residents
White, not charted: 97% of Metropolitan Lisburn · Belfast’s towns 93% · Northern Ireland’s towns 96%.
Religion · all residents
In Metropolitan Lisburn, 86% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 76% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 21% of residents said they have no religion across Northern Ireland’s towns. Next after White come Mixed or multiple (0.8%), Indian (0.7%) and African (0.4%).
34% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 98% of towns in England and Wales
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
14% of residents give unpaid care, against 12% across Northern Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Northern Ireland’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Metropolitan Lisburn, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 32% across Northern Ireland’s towns, while 25% have no qualification at all (25%). A levels top the qualifications of 17%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Among 209 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, the 7th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Hatfield (30.3) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Metropolitan Lisburn in age: Little Hulton (34.7), Bilston (35.3), Farnworth (35.7) and Didcot (35.8).
No nearby town is as young as Metropolitan Lisburn
Nearby towns coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Lisburn | 32,643 | — | 35.3 | 12% | 36% |
| Lisburn | 51,447 | 3 mi | 38.8 | 17% | 31% |
| Belfast | 293,298 | 4.3 mi | 36 | 15% | 26% |
| Carryduff | 7,173 | 6.1 mi | 40.7 | 18% | 33% |
| Hillsborough and Culcavy | 3,754 | 6.6 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Metropolitan Castlereagh | 58,763 | 6.7 mi | 41 | 18% | 28% |
| Metropolitan Newtownabbey | 67,599 | 9 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 30% |
| Crumlin | 5,366 | 9 mi | 37 | 12% | 38% |
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.
- “Belfast’s towns” and “Northern Ireland’s towns” mean their settlements. Census comparisons pool every town in Belfast (or Northern Ireland), summed the same way as Metropolitan Lisburn’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. NISRA 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 Metropolitan Lisburn’s residents
What is the population of Metropolitan Lisburn?
The 2021 Census counted 32,643 people in Metropolitan Lisburn’s settlement.
What is the average age in Metropolitan Lisburn?
The median age was 35.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of towns in England and Wales. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Metropolitan Lisburn?
97% of residents described themselves as White in 2021, against 96% across Northern Ireland’s towns and 93% across Belfast’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Metropolitan Lisburn?
11% said they had no religion and 86% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 1.6% didn’t answer.
Is Metropolitan Lisburn good for families?
36% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across Northern Ireland’s towns. Schools are on Metropolitan Lisburn’s schools page.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 (Flexible Table Builder), data zones summed to NISRA’s Settlement Development Limits 2015 (household composition by super data zone; women and men from whole data zones, which approximate the town’s boundary). 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.