Photo: Peter Barr · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Bakewell is over 58.2
Against a figure of 29% across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children in Bakewell comes in at 17%. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 96% in the town. The town has fewer adults who have never married than 95% of UK towns, at 24%. At the 2021 Census, 3,275 people lived in the town, in 1,589 households.
What the Census says about Bakewell’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bakewell’s residents are under 58.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% 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).
Bakewell: 38% of residents are 65 or over, above 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
7.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bakewell, 58.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
Full-time students: 3.9%, a lower share than 88% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 22% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). In Bakewell, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
38% of households are one person living alone, a share 96% of UK towns don’t reach
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Derbyshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
In Bakewell the average household is 2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 69% of UK towns.
Bakewell ranks above 72% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 20%
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
The share of households in flats tops 71% of UK towns: 15%. Households without a car or van: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison. In Bakewell, nearly a fifth of households live in a terraced house. Compared with other places, households in detached houses are common here: 31%, more than in 54% of UK towns.
3.9% born outside the UK, fewer than in 79% 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
In Bakewell, 99% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 92% of UK towns: 59%
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 Bakewell · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.3%). Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Just over a third of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 85% of UK towns.
Bakewell: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 79% 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, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; in Bakewell, 50%. By way of comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 41% of Bakewell’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification (18%).
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 13th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Bakewell in age: Westward Ho! (58), Settle (58.2), Mundesley (58.7) and Saundersfoot (58.7).
Every nearby town is younger than Bakewell
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakewell | 3,275 | — | 58.2 | 38% | 17% |
| Baslow | 1,172 | 3.4 mi | 56.8 | 36% | 21% |
| Calver | 1,073 | 4.1 mi | 56.3 | 34% | 19% |
| Darley Dale | 3,985 | 4.6 mi | 53.1 | 33% | 21% |
| Tideswell | 1,554 | 6 mi | 51.3 | 26% | 22% |
| Matlock | 11,990 | 7.2 mi | 49.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Holymoorside | 1,363 | 7.6 mi | 55.5 | 33% | 20% |
| Hathersage | 1,861 | 8.1 mi | 54.3 | 31% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Derbyshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Derbyshire (or England), summed the same way as Bakewell’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 Bakewell’s residents
What is the population of Bakewell?
The 2021 Census counted 3,275 people in Bakewell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bakewell?
The median age was 58.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bakewell?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bakewell?
34% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bakewell good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bakewell’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.