Photo: Ydam · CC BY 2.556% of households live in a detached house, a share 94% of UK towns don’t reach
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.5%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. 6,674 residents in 2,848 households: that is Holmes Chapel at the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 27% here. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 86% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Holmes Chapel’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Holmes Chapel at 5,600 in 2011 and 6,900 in 2024, up 24%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 90% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
A +24% change since 2011: Holmes Chapel grew faster than 90% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Holmes Chapel’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,600 people in 2011; 6,900 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2014 to mid-2015, 230 people. Change by age ran from +45% for the 65 and over to +6% for the 45 to 64.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.8%, a lower share than 80% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: 7.9% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. With a median age of 47.8, Holmes Chapel is older than 73% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Holmes Chapel, 47.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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 Holmes Chapel, 5.2% of adults are full-time students, more than in 64% 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%.
11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 8.1% in Holmes Chapel. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
27% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 73% 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.
Households with dependent children: 29%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.3 people on average. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
12% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 83% 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
The share of households in flats is 7.5%, against 23% across England’s towns. Lower than in 81% of UK towns: 10% of households have no car or van. The comparison figure for households in terraced houses is 24% across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Holmes Chapel, more than in 77% of UK towns
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, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 15%. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. In Holmes Chapel, 4.6% of residents were born outside the UK.
94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 65% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Holmes Chapel · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion are about as common here as across England’s towns: 37%. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Chinese (0.4%). As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 93% 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
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 8.7%. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Across Holmes Chapel, 57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
45% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
45% of Holmes Chapel’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have none (18%).
Of 473 UK towns its size (5,000 to 9,000 people), the 146th 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 Holmes Chapel in age: Chiswell Green (47.7), Boston Spa (47.8), Crawley Down (47.8) and Studley (47.9).
Holmes Chapel sits below 3 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Holmes Chapel’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. Holmes Chapel’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,674 people in 2021, against 6,674 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 Holmes Chapel’s residents
What is the population of Holmes Chapel?
The 2021 Census counted 6,674 people in Holmes Chapel’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,900 people in mid-2024, 24% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Holmes Chapel?
The median age was 47.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 73% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Holmes Chapel?
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 Holmes Chapel?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Holmes Chapel good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Holmes Chapel’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.