Photo: Rovernut · CC BY 2.0In Poynton, 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 97% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%; Poynton has 23%. Households in terraced houses account for 11%. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 87% of UK towns: 8.4%. This Cheshire town had 13,015 residents and 5,641 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 50.7 (older than 88% of UK towns).
What the Census says about Poynton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Poynton’s residents are under 50.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
Poynton changed by +4% from 2011 to 2024, behind 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Poynton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,000 people in 2011; 13,500 in 2024.
Between mid-2013 and mid-2014 the population rose by 250, its biggest one-year gain. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+31%) and 45 to 64 least (−15%).
Half of Poynton is over 50.7, older than 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% 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+
■ Poynton, 50.7. 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 74% of UK towns, at 7.6%
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%.
The share of full-time students is 4.5%, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A lower share of households with dependent children than 66% of UK towns, at 26%
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.
One-person households: 28% here and 30% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.3 people on average.
Above 80% of UK towns: 42% of households live in a detached house
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 23% across England’s towns, 7.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Poynton. For Poynton, the census puts households without a car or van at 10%. As a yardstick, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Poynton, more than in 78% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Against that, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. On residents born outside the UK, Poynton sits lower than just over two thirds of UK towns: 4.7%. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 13% (England’s towns: 21%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 57%, a higher share than 88% 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: 94% of Poynton · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion trails 77% of UK towns: 36%. Locally, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%.
In Poynton, 59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 97% 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
Some 309 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers make up 9.1%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Poynton’s adults: 44% with a degree-level qualification and 12% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 406 UK towns its size (9,000 to 18,000 people), the 38th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Poynton in age: Whitby (50.6), Cottingham (50.7), Wells (50.7) and Morpeth (50.8).
1 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Poynton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poynton | 13,015 | — | 50.7 | 30% | 26% |
| Woodford | 2,241 | 1.6 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 36% |
| Hazel Grove | 20,163 | 2 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 28% |
| Bramhall | 17,201 | 2.2 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 29% |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 2.5 mi | 57.2 | 37% | 19% |
| Cheadle Hulme | 24,782 | 3.3 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 32% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 3.7 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Bollington | 7,236 | 3.7 mi | 48.1 | 24% | 25% |
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 Poynton’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. Poynton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,872 people in 2021, against 13,015 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 Poynton’s residents
What is the population of Poynton?
The 2021 Census counted 13,015 people in Poynton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,500 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Poynton?
The median age was 50.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 88% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Poynton?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 4.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Poynton?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Poynton good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Poynton’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.