Photo: padsbrother · CC BY 2.0Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 99% of UK towns: 1.1%
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8%, below 93% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 7,236 residents in Bollington, living in 3,364 households. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 34% locally. One-person households are more common here than in 83% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 63% of UK towns grew faster than Bollington: +5%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bollington’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,600 people in 2011; 8,000 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+39%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−21%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2016: 120 more people.
A median age of 48.1: Bollington is older than 75% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). In Prestbury, the oldest of Cheshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bollington, 48.1. 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.
Bollington ranks below 87% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.9%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 45% of Bollington’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 18%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Bollington households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 87% of UK towns
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.
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Bollington has 25%.
10% of households have no car or van, below 79% of UK towns
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house in Bollington. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van. On the census count, 11% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Fewer residents born abroad than 69% of UK towns: 4.6%
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
In Bollington, 98% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 64% of UK towns: 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 Bollington · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 52%, against 46% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Across Bollington, just over two in five residents said they have no religion.
Adults who have never married make up 30% in Bollington, less than in 68% 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
140 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%. Married adults and civil partners: 49% here and 44% across England’s towns.
44% of adults have qualifications at 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 Bollington, 44%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
Among 538 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, the 150th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Red Lodge (30.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Bollington in age: Bayston Hill (48), Tiptree (48), Prestwood and Great Missenden (48.1) and Battle (48.1).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Bollington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bollington | 7,236 | — | 48.1 | 24% | 25% |
| Prestbury | 2,629 | 1.9 mi | 54.6 | 33% | 25% |
| Macclesfield | 54,352 | 2.8 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 25% |
| Poynton | 13,015 | 3.7 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 26% |
| Woodford | 2,241 | 3.9 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 36% |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 5.1 mi | 57.2 | 37% | 19% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 5.3 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Alderley Edge | 4,496 | 5.3 mi | 50.7 | 29% | 22% |
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 Bollington’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. Bollington’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,943 people in 2021, against 7,236 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 Bollington’s residents
What is the population of Bollington?
The 2021 Census counted 7,236 people in Bollington’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,000 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bollington?
The median age was 48.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 75% of UK towns. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bollington?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bollington?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Bollington good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bollington’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.