Photo: Dave Dunford Dave.Dunford · Public domainFewer households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns: 20%
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Birch Vale has 48%. Census day 2021: 523 residents and 246 households locally. Here, 14% of residents give unpaid care. 50% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 98% of UK towns.
Birch Vale is older than 90% of UK towns: a median age of 51.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: just over one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 51% 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%.
In Birch Vale, 47% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The share of full-time students stands at 4.8%.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 93% of UK towns
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.
2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Higher than in 87% of UK towns: 35% of households are one person living alone.
A smaller share of households in flats than 94% of UK towns: 2.8%
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 without a car or van trails 84% of UK towns: 9.7%. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. In Birch Vale, 26% of households live in a detached house.
Birch Vale sits below 85% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.5%)
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.1%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%). 99% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 88% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Birch Vale: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 81% 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: 95% of Birch Vale · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Indian (0.2%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian are rarer here than in 69% of UK towns. For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across England’s towns is 73%.
Below 57% of UK towns: 47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership
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
18 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Lower than in just over half of UK towns: 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across England’s towns: 44%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 45%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
45% of Birch Vale’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 11% have none (18%).
Older than Birch Vale: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch Vale | 523 | — | 51.2 | 24% | 20% |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 0.8 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| New Mills | 9,195 | 1.7 mi | 45.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 2.3 mi | 51.2 | 24% | 22% |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 2.9 mi | 45.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 3.2 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | 3.6 mi | 49.6 | 23% | 24% |
| Marple Bridge | 4,702 | 3.8 mi | 49 | 26% | 29% |
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 Birch Vale’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 Birch Vale’s residents
What is the population of Birch Vale?
The 2021 Census counted 523 people in Birch Vale’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Birch Vale?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Birch Vale?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Birch Vale?
48% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4% didn’t answer.
Is Birch Vale good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Birch Vale’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.