Photo: David Jones from Isle of Wight, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0Married adults and civil partners: 55%, a higher share than 89% of UK towns
Households without a car or van: 9.9% here and 24% across England’s towns. Lower than in 84% of UK towns: 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Lymm is home to 11,547 residents in 4,855 households, by the 2021 Census. For Lymm, the census puts households with dependent children at 31%.
+5% since 2011, a pace below 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lymm’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,400 people in 2011; 13,000 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2012 to mid-2013, the population rose by 240, the most of any year. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+44%) and the 30 to 44 least (−25%).
A median age of 46.1: Lymm is older than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents. In Prestbury, the oldest of Cheshire’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lymm, 46.1. 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.
A higher share of full-time students than 83% of UK towns, at 5.9%
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 account for just over half of Lymm’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 13%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across Lymm, 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 67% of UK towns: 2.4 people each on average
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 share of one-person households stands at 29%.
A larger share of households in flats than 58% of UK towns: 12%
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
Nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Across Lymm, 30% of households live in a detached house.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 60% of UK towns: 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
5.9% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8% across Cheshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%).
Above 81% of UK towns: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 92% of Lymm · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 37%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (2.2%) and Indian (0.8%).
Fewer adults who have never married than 87% of UK towns: 26%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 207 residents. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in three quarters of UK towns. For adults who have never married, the comparison across England’s towns is 39%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 50% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 50% of Lymm’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 10% have no qualification (18%).
Among 432 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, the 144th oldest
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 Lymm in age: Horbury (46.1), Darton (46.1), Wideopen (46.2) and Little Lever (46.2).
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Lymm are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lymm | 11,547 | — | 46.1 | 22% | 31% |
| High Legh | 1,145 | 2.3 mi | 55 | 33% | 24% |
| Partington | 7,706 | 2.9 mi | 36.7 | 16% | 35% |
| Appleton Thorn | 1,372 | 3.7 mi | 43.5 | 18% | 26% |
| Irlam | 19,714 | 4.5 mi | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Bowdon | 6,107 | 4.7 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 31% |
| Warrington | 174,968 | 4.8 mi | 41.6 | 18% | 28% |
| Croft | 1,520 | 4.8 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 29% |
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 Lymm’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. Lymm’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,664 people in 2021, against 11,547 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 Lymm’s residents
What is the population of Lymm?
The 2021 Census counted 11,547 people in Lymm’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,000 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lymm?
The median age was 46.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 62% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lymm?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lymm?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Lymm good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lymm’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.