Photo: Delusion23 · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 97% of UK towns: half of High Legh is over 55
Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house; in High Legh, 66%. Census day 2021: 1,145 residents and 491 households in the village. Households in flats: 0.2% of the total. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 19% here, fewer than in 99% of UK towns.
What the Census says about High Legh’s people
Older than most towns
Half of High Legh’s residents are under 55 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
150 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 14% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
7.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. The census found that a third of residents are 65 or over in High Legh. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In High Legh, 3.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 94% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 53% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 13% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.7% of the total.
Only 23% of households are one person living alone in High Legh
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.
In High Legh the average household is 2.4 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Typically, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Across High Legh, 24% of households have dependent children. 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 68% of UK towns.
4.3% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 99% 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
Terraced houses are home to just over one in ten households, against 24% across England’s towns.
High Legh ranks above 70% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
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
Here 5.5% of residents were born outside the UK, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. Residents whose main language is English make up 90% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%).
64% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 98% of UK towns
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: 90% of High Legh · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.8%), Mixed or multiple (2.2%) and Indian (1.3%). Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, High Legh has 90%.
In High Legh, 64% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
14% of residents give unpaid care (England’s towns: 8.7%). Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. For 35 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
48% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In High Legh, 48% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 9.5% have no qualification at all (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than High Legh
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Legh | 1,145 | — | 55 | 33% | 24% |
| Lymm | 11,547 | 2.3 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Appleton Thorn | 1,372 | 3.8 mi | 43.5 | 18% | 26% |
| Bowdon | 6,107 | 3.9 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 31% |
| Partington | 7,706 | 4.4 mi | 36.7 | 16% | 35% |
| Pickmere | 2,800 | 4.8 mi | 48 | 23% | 32% |
| Knutsford | 13,254 | 4.8 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 27% |
| Hale | 16,716 | 5.2 mi | 43.9 | 20% | 37% |
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 High Legh’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 High Legh’s residents
What is the population of High Legh?
The 2021 Census counted 1,145 people in High Legh’s built-up area.
What is the average age in High Legh?
The median age was 55 at the 2021 Census. 7.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is High Legh?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in High Legh?
29% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is High Legh good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on High Legh’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.