Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0More unpaid carers than 96% of UK towns: 12% of residents
In Runcorn, 36% of households live in a terraced house, beside 24% across England’s towns. Here, 18% of households live in a detached house. Half of the town’s residents are under 41.1, younger than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. Its 27,247 households held 61,641 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Runcorn’s people
Many carers
6,980 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 96% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
Slower growth than 66% of UK towns: Runcorn changed by +4% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Runcorn’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 62,600 people in 2011; 65,100 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+43%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−6%). Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 860 people.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11% in Runcorn, more than in 83% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 19% in Runcorn and 18% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 6.9% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Runcorn, 41.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 78% of UK towns, at 7.4%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Runcorn, 25% and 31%. On the census count, 5.3% of adults are full-time students. Against that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person homes: 32% of households in Runcorn
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.
Here 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. On the census count, 28% of households have dependent children. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
More households without a car or van than 88% of UK towns: 25%
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
12% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. Every 4th household or so has no car or van, the highest share in Cheshire.
Only 4.8% of Runcorn’s residents were born outside the UK
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 whose main language is English make up 97%, against 90% across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Above 67% of UK towns: 52% 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: 94% of Runcorn · Cheshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion tops 54% of UK towns: 42%. Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. In Runcorn, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 90% 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
Across England’s towns, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Runcorn, 40%. 2,569 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
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 Runcorn, 22%, while 22% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 37 in Halton Castlefield to 51 in Beechwood & Heath
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Beechwood & Heath is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Halton Castlefield the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Sandymoor, Daresbury & Preston Brook (33% of households).
Of 118 UK towns its size (43,000 to 83,000 people), the 46th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Bexhill-on-Sea (54.1). Nearest to Runcorn in age: Wigan (41.1), Altrincham (41.1), Stafford (41.2) and Wrexham (41.2).
The towns around Runcorn are all older
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 Runcorn’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. Runcorn’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 63,215 people in 2021, against 61,641 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 Runcorn’s residents
What is the population of Runcorn?
The 2021 Census counted 61,641 people in Runcorn’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 65,100 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Runcorn?
The median age was 41.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Runcorn?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Cheshire’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Runcorn?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Runcorn good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Sandymoor, Daresbury & Preston Brook (33% of households). Schools are on Runcorn’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.