Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Buckley ranks below 86% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 11%
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 96%, against 90% across Wales’s towns. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are scarce here: 1.7%, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. 13,562 residents in 6,023 households: that is Buckley at the 2021 Census. The census found that two in five households live in a detached house locally.
What the Census says about Buckley’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Buckley at 14,100 in 2011 and 14,000 in 2024, down 1%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 87% 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.
−1% since 2011, a pace below 87% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Buckley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,100 people in 2011; 14,000 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+23%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−16%).
A median age of 43.3: Buckley is younger than 59% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.7% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. A fifth of residents are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Buckley, 43.3. 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 Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year: 7.1%, a lower share than 83% 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%.
Against a figure of 8% across Wales’s towns, the share of full-time students in Buckley comes in at 5.1%. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Wales’s towns: 9.1%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 62% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Clwyd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Nothing unusual on one-person households: 32%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Buckley.
Buckley sits below 63% of UK towns for households in flats (8.5%)
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 Buckley, 15% of households have no car or van. Across Wales’s towns, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 75% of UK towns: 4.2%
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 10%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.5%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Across the comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. More residents whose main language is English than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 98%. Arrivals from 2017 on account for just over one in ten residents born abroad, beside 23% across Wales’s towns.
Welsh is spoken by 11% of Buckley’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
At the 2021 Census, 1,395 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, said they can speak Welsh, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 64% of Welsh towns. Top of Clwyd: Llanfairfechan, at 44%.
More residents with no religion than 57% of UK towns: 42%
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: 96% of Buckley · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 50%, against 43% across Wales’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.2%). The wider picture: 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 62% of UK towns: 46%
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
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (Wales’s towns: 38%). Across the comparison, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Locally, one in ten residents give unpaid care.
27% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 31% across Wales’s towns, 27% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 17% hold no qualification (20%).
From a median age of 41 in Buckley South to 48 in New Brighton & Mynyddisa
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
New Brighton & Mynyddisa is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Buckley South the youngest (median age 41). Families with children are most common in Ewloe & Hawarden (32% of households).
Among 406 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000 people, the 165th youngest
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 Buckley in age: St Ives (43.3), Southwick (43.3), Barnoldswick (43.4) and Todmorden (43.4).
Nearby, 6 of 7 towns have older populations than Buckley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckley | 13,562 | — | 43.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Mynydd Isa | 4,738 | 1.4 mi | 50 | 29% | 25% |
| Penyffordd | 3,822 | 1.9 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 33% |
| Hawarden | 14,284 | 2.3 mi | 46.8 | 23% | 26% |
| Northop Hall | 1,826 | 2.3 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 29% |
| Aston | 2,847 | 2.4 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 27% |
| Soughton | 1,697 | 2.6 mi | 51.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Leeswood | 1,948 | 2.7 mi | 44.1 | 18% | 28% |
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.
- “Clwyd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Clwyd (or Wales), summed the same way as Buckley’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. Buckley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,089 people in 2021, against 13,562 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 Buckley’s residents
What is the population of Buckley?
The 2021 Census counted 13,562 people in Buckley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,000 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Buckley?
The median age was 43.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 59% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Buckley?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Buckley?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Buckley good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Ewloe & Hawarden (32% of households). Schools are on Buckley’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Buckley?
1,395 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
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, TS032) · 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.