Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 87% of UK towns: 8.4%
Compared with 39% across England’s towns, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here. At the 2021 Census, 13,254 people lived in Knutsford, in 5,888 households. Locally, 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Households in flats are more common here than in 69% of UK towns.
A change of +4% since 2011 leaves Knutsford behind 67% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Knutsford’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,200 people in 2011; 13,700 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 200 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+12%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−9%).
More residents aged 65 and over than 70% of UK towns: 25%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of Knutsford’s residents are over 46.6, older than in 66% of UK towns. The largest age band is 45–49: 7.4% of residents. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Prestbury, the oldest of Cheshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Knutsford, 46.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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 Knutsford, 9.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 66% 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%.
By class, 47% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across England’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 4.9% of adults are full-time students.
Knutsford sits above 68% of UK towns for one-person households (32%)
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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 2.6%, Knutsford is ahead of 60% of UK towns on that count. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns. Households average 2.3 people.
Households in detached houses make up 39% in Knutsford, more than in 74% 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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 15% of households have no car or van in Knutsford. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 19% in the town.
7.7% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 62% of UK towns don’t reach
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.5%). Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Since 2017: just over a fifth of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
Knutsford sits below 61% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (90%)
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 Knutsford · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 37%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (1.5%). On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 75% 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 giving 50 hours or more a week: 288. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.7% here, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Among adults, 48% hold a degree-level qualification
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 Knutsford, 13%, while 48% hold one at degree level (34%).
Ranked by age, 113th oldest of 406 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Knutsford in age: Chalfont St Peter (46.5), Yarm (46.6), Taverham and Drayton (46.6) and Ramsbottom (46.7).
Knutsford is younger than 4 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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
- “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 Knutsford’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. Knutsford’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,254 people in 2021, against 13,254 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 Knutsford’s residents
What is the population of Knutsford?
The 2021 Census counted 13,254 people in Knutsford’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,700 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Knutsford?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Knutsford?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 7.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Knutsford?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Knutsford good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Knutsford’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.