Photo: Meirion · CC BY-SA 2.0More adults who have never married than 94% of UK towns: 42%
Residents aged 15 to 24: 14%, above 96% of UK towns. Census figures put one-person households at 34% in Chester. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Chester sits lower than 78% of UK towns: 85%. The town counted 92,756 residents and 41,093 households at the 2021 Census.
+12% since 2011, a pace 67% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chester’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 86,200 people in 2011; 96,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+21%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (+5%). In one year, mid-2023 to mid-2024, the population rose by 1,490, the most of any year.
A median age of 40: Chester is younger than 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 20–24, with 7.8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over in Chester.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chester, 40. 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.
Chester ranks above 96% of UK towns on full-time students: 10%
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 or semi-routine work; Chester has 36% and 23%. 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 91% of UK towns. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer families than 75% of UK towns: 25% of households have children
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.
At 4.7%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across England’s towns. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Average household size: 2.2 people.
Fewer households in detached houses than 79% of UK towns: 18%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Chester has 22%. As a yardstick, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Nearly a quarter of households have no car or van. More households in terraced houses than in just over two thirds of UK towns: 25%.
Chester sits above 81% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (12%)
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
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 27%. Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 83% of UK towns: 94%. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (5.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.1%).
Chester sits below 56% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (49%)
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: 85% of Chester · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 2.1% of residents. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Chester has 41%.
Married adults and civil partners: 40%, a lower share than 92% 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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.7%, from the figure across England’s towns. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 2,159 people.
Degree-level qualifications reach 40% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
15% of Chester’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 40% have one at degree level (34%). A levels are as far as 18% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
From a median age of 28 in Chester City & Garden Quarter to 50 in Chester Handbridge Park
The town’s 12 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Chester Handbridge Park is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Chester City & Garden Quarter the youngest (median age 28). Students cluster in Chester City & Garden Quarter, where 36% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Boughton Heath & Huntington (34% of households).
Among 79 UK towns of 65,000 to 125,000 people, the 33rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Paignton the oldest (48.4). Nearest to Chester in age: Barnsley (39.9), Redditch (39.9), Nuneaton (40.1) and Cheltenham (40.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Chester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 92,756 | — | 40 | 19% | 25% |
| Moston | 1,099 | 2.3 mi | 26.8 | 3.2% | 55% |
| Christleton and Waverton | 2,670 | 2.6 mi | 49.1 | 28% | 29% |
| Guilden Sutton | 1,462 | 2.7 mi | 51.7 | 30% | 27% |
| Mickle Trafford | 1,840 | 3.2 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 31% |
| Saughall | 2,655 | 3.4 mi | 50.8 | 30% | 24% |
| Broughton | 6,532 | 4.5 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 30% |
| Garden City | 2,427 | 5.1 mi | 34.9 | 11% | 33% |
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.
- “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 Chester’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. Chester’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 92,504 people in 2021, against 92,756 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 Chester’s residents
What is the population of Chester?
The 2021 Census counted 92,756 people in Chester’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 96,300 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chester?
The median age was 40 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chester?
85% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chester?
41% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.1% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Chester good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Boughton Heath & Huntington (34% of households). Schools are on Chester’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.