Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Northwich is under 38.3, younger than 88% of UK towns
14% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Still, on one-person households, Northwich sits higher than 87% of UK towns: 35%. Census day 2021: 18,646 residents and 8,462 households locally. The census found that nearly a third of households live in a terraced house locally.
What the Census says about Northwich’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Northwich’s residents are under 38.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Northwich at 15,700 in 2011 and 19,200 in 2024, up 22%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 89% 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 +22% change since 2011: faster than 89% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Northwich’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,700 people in 2011; 19,200 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +40% for the 65 and over to +6% for the 16 to 29. The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2017 to mid-2018: 540 people.
Northwich ranks below 91% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Northwich, 38.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Northwich sits below 77% of UK towns for full-time students (4.2%)
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 31% of Northwich’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 30%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 9.9% locally.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 78% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.9% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Northwich.
More flats than 74% of UK towns: 16% of households in Northwich
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
In Northwich, 19% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 95% in Northwich, less than in 80% 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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up a quarter of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). More residents born outside the UK than in 69% of UK towns: 9%. Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.6%), then in the Middle East and Asia (2.4%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 67% of UK towns: 89%
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: 89% of Northwich · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up just over half of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (5.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Indian (0.7%).
More adults who have never married than 93% of UK towns: 42%
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
Compared with 44% across England’s towns, nearly two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership here. Fewer unpaid carers than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 8.8%. Some 448 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of Northwich’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 35 in Northwich Central & Winnington to 42 in Greenbank
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Greenbank is the oldest area, with 17% aged 65 or over; Northwich Central & Winnington the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Northwich Central & Winnington (30% of households).
Ranked by age, 24th youngest of 325 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Northwich in age: Ingleby Barwick (38.2), Cradley Heath (38.2), Reddish (38.6) and Falmouth (38.6).
Northwich is younger than every town around it
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 Northwich’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. Northwich’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 18,281 people in 2021, against 18,646 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 Northwich’s residents
What is the population of Northwich?
The 2021 Census counted 18,646 people in Northwich’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,200 people in mid-2024, 22% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Northwich?
The median age was 38.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 88% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Northwich?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Northwich?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Northwich good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Northwich Central & Winnington (30% of households). Schools are on Northwich’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.