Anderton Boat Lift, aqueduct, basins, meter building, toll houses and buried remains of salt chutes, inclined planes, the east basin and dockside features · Photo: Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0Only 4.2% of households live in a flat or apartment in Barnton
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 53% here and 46% across England’s towns. 6,245 residents in 2,707 households: that is Barnton at the 2021 Census. The share of households without a car or van stands at 11%. Lower than in 70% of UK towns: 9.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Barnton’s population moved +2% on 2011, less than in 74% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Barnton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,600 people in 2011; 5,700 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+32%) and 45 to 64 least (−8%). Between mid-2018 and mid-2019 the population rose by 110, its biggest one-year gain.
Barnton is younger than 54% of UK towns: a median age of 44
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.6% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns. In Prestbury, the oldest of Cheshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Barnton, 44. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 4.2% of adults are full-time students in Barnton
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 work; in Barnton, 32% and 28%. Residents who moved in within the year account for 7.9%.
Barnton sits below 68% of UK towns for one-person households (28%)
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cheshire’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. Households with dependent children account for 27%. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Fewer detached houses than 66% of UK towns: 23% of households
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
24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, against 23% in Barnton. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%.
3.7% of residents were born outside the UK, below 81% of UK towns
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in Africa (0.5%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Barnton sits higher than 73% of UK towns: 99%.
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 79% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 95% of Barnton · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Two in five residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.4%).
Barnton: 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 55% 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
165 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Elsewhere, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Barnton has fewer unpaid carers than just over half of UK towns, at 9.3%. Compared with 44% across England’s towns, 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here.
Among adults, 29% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Barnton’s adults: 29% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
223rd lowest median age among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
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 Barnton in age: Borough Green (43.9), Loughor (43.9), Little Paxton (44) and Great Wakering (44).
Barnton and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
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
- “Cheshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cheshire (or England), summed the same way as Barnton’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. Barnton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,693 people in 2021, against 6,245 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 Barnton’s residents
What is the population of Barnton?
The 2021 Census counted 6,245 people in Barnton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,700 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Barnton?
The median age was 44 at the 2021 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Barnton?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Barnton?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Barnton good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Barnton’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. 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.