Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Crewe is younger than 87% of UK towns: a median age of 38.7
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 53%, above 68% of UK towns. Crewe is home to 74,116 residents in 31,583 households, by the 2021 Census. Here, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership. On households without a car or van, Crewe sits higher than 83% of UK towns: 23%.
What the Census says about Crewe’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in Cheshire
18% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8% across Cheshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (12%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.7%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Crewe’s residents are under 38.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Crewe’s population changed by +12% since 2011, more than in 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Crewe’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 70,200 people in 2011; 78,600 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 2,340 people. The 30 to 44 age group changed most (+32%) and the 16 to 29 least (−9%).
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 86% of UK towns, at 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, above 82% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Crewe, 38.7. 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.
Crewe ranks above 79% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 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%.
By class, 25% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 35% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The wider picture: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. 5% of adults are full-time students.
3.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a share 87% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
Here 31% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. Across England’s towns, shared households of unrelated adults come to 4.3%. Average household size: 2.3 people. Crewe has more households with dependent children than nearly two thirds of UK towns, at 29%.
In Crewe, 23% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 66% 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
Here 12% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. For comparison, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses are more common here than in 63% of UK towns.
Below 95% of UK towns: 87% 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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (12%), then in the Middle East and Asia (3.7%). Crewe has more residents born outside the UK than 90% of UK towns, at 18%. Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 30%.
Below 85% of UK towns: 79% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 79% of Crewe · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (12%), Mixed or multiple (2.2%) and Indian (1.4%). Fewer residents with no religion than in 64% of UK towns: 39%. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 89% of UK towns: 40%
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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8.8%, about the same as across England’s towns. 1,994 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Crewe, 21%, while 26% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 29 in Willaston & Shavington to 53 in Crewe South West & Wistaston
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.
Crewe South West & Wistaston is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Willaston & Shavington the youngest (median age 29). Families with children are most common in Church Minshull, Kingsbourne & Sound (44% of households).
Ranked by age, 31st youngest of 95 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 50.4 in Clacton-on-Sea. Nearest to Crewe in age: Sittingbourne (38.6), Burnley (38.7), Rochester (38.8) and Farnborough (38.8).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Crewe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crewe | 74,116 | — | 38.7 | 16% | 29% |
| Haslington | 5,042 | 2.2 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 25% |
| Willaston (Cheshire East) | 3,653 | 2.4 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 28% |
| Shavington | 4,972 | 2.5 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 25% |
| Winterley | 1,371 | 3.2 mi | 48.8 | 23% | 28% |
| Nantwich | 18,741 | 3.7 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 24% |
| Wheelock | 2,155 | 3.7 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 34% |
| Elworth | 7,646 | 4.1 mi | 41.3 | 16% | 32% |
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 Crewe’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. Crewe’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 73,026 people in 2021, against 74,116 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 Crewe’s residents
What is the population of Crewe?
The 2021 Census counted 74,116 people in Crewe’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 78,600 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Crewe?
The median age was 38.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 87% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Crewe?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 18% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Crewe?
39% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Crewe good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Church Minshull, Kingsbourne & Sound (44% of households). Schools are on Crewe’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.