Photo: Ydam · CC BY 2.5A median age of 58.5: Goostrey is older than 99% of UK towns
The figure for households in detached houses is 69% in Goostrey and 21% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,952 residents in 899 households. 8.8% of households live in a terraced house. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 29%, fewer than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Goostrey’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Goostrey’s residents are under 58.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 40% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
220 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 94% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns, at 40%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 9.9% of residents, 2 times the share across England’s towns. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 90% of UK towns: 8.2%. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 93% of UK towns
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%.
Full-time students make up 4.6% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
In Goostrey, 19% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 96% 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.
The figure for one-person households is 25% in Goostrey and 30% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.2 people on average. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in three quarters of UK towns.
Few flats: only 1% of households in Goostrey 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
Households without a car or van: 6.8% here and 24% across England’s towns. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Goostrey ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%; Goostrey has 4.2%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Goostrey sits above 98% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (64%)
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 Goostrey · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.8%). To put it in context, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White British: 95% here, more than in 80% of UK towns.
Goostrey sits above 99% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (66%)
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
64 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 17%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. In Goostrey, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, beside 8.7% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 47% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Goostrey’s adults: 47% with a degree-level qualification and 15% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Every neighbour of Goostrey has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goostrey | 1,952 | — | 58.5 | 40% | 19% |
| Holmes Chapel | 6,674 | 1.8 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 29% |
| Chelford | 1,377 | 4.2 mi | 48.2 | 29% | 21% |
| Middlewich | 14,428 | 4.9 mi | 44.8 | 20% | 27% |
| Knutsford | 13,254 | 5.4 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 27% |
| Lostock Gralam | 2,719 | 5.6 mi | 42.2 | 22% | 30% |
| Sandbach | 11,289 | 5.7 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 23% |
| Elworth | 7,646 | 5.8 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 Goostrey’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Goostrey’s residents
What is the population of Goostrey?
The 2021 Census counted 1,952 people in Goostrey’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Goostrey?
The median age was 58.5 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Goostrey?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Goostrey?
29% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Goostrey good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Goostrey’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). 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.