Photo: yorkshirelad · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 94% of UK towns: half of Bolton is over 53.1
Here 3.3% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. At the 2021 Census, 478 people lived in Bolton, in 209 households. In Bolton, 3.8% of households have no car or van. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 99% of UK towns: 98%.
Bolton ranks above 97% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 36%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
8.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Fewer full-time students than 91% of UK towns: 3.7%
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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Fewer families than 77% of UK towns: 24% of households have children
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Bolton has 2.9%. By way of comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.3 people on average. One-person households are rarer here than in 57% of UK towns.
More detached houses than 98% of UK towns: 64% of households
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
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Bolton has 12%. Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 99% of UK towns: 1.5%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, Bolton has 99%. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in Africa (1.1%) and in EU countries (0.2%).
Fewer residents with no religion than 96% of UK towns: 27%
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: 98% of Bolton · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, nearly two thirds of residents describe themselves as Christian here. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
63% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 10 residents. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 21% here, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.4%, close to the figure across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 39% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 39% of Bolton’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Bolton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | 478 | — | 53.1 | 36% | 24% |
| Appleby-in-Westmorland | 3,233 | 3.3 mi | 51.1 | 29% | 20% |
| Penrith | 16,705 | 8.6 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Cumbria’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cumbria (or England), summed the same way as Bolton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Bolton’s residents
What is the population of Bolton?
The 2021 Census counted 478 people in Bolton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bolton?
The median age was 53.1 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bolton?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 1.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bolton?
27% said they had no religion and 66% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Bolton good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bolton’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). 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.