Photo: Victuallers · CC BY-SA 3.0In Borrowash, 8.5% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
3.2% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 7,171 residents in 3,153 households. Locally, 1.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. With a median age of 47.7, Borrowash is older than 73% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Borrowash’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Borrowash at 7,300 in 2011 and 7,100 in 2024, down 3%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 94% 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.
A change of −3% since 2011 leaves Borrowash behind 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Borrowash’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,300 people in 2011; 7,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+7%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−11%).
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 73% of UK towns, at 9.1%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.1% of residents. More residents aged 65 and over than in 68% of UK towns: 24%. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Borrowash, 47.7. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Borrowash ranks below 91% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 6.6%
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%.
7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns, against 4.9% in Borrowash. Across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
In Borrowash, 26% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 65% 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.
In Borrowash the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across England’s towns: 29%. One-person households are rarer here than in 57% of UK towns.
Households in detached houses make up 44% in Borrowash, more than in 84% of UK towns
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 have no car or van across England’s towns, Borrowash has 14%. Meanwhile, 3.2% of households live in a flat, less than in 92% of UK towns; 44% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Below 78% of UK towns: 4% of 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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 70% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 11% (England’s towns: 21%).
Residents with no religion: 44%, a higher share than 73% 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: 94% of Borrowash · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%. Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%. Locally, 94% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Borrowash: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 87% 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
Adults who have never married: 29%, below 72% of UK towns. For Borrowash, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 51%. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 33%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Borrowash’s adults: 33% with a degree-level qualification and 16% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Ranked by age, 160th oldest of 538 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.9 in Red Lodge to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Borrowash in age: South Molton (47.6), Selston (47.7), Chiswell Green (47.7) and Boston Spa (47.8).
4 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Borrowash
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrowash | 7,171 | — | 47.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Breaston and Draycott | 7,393 | 2.2 mi | 50.1 | 27% | 22% |
| Shardlow | 1,190 | 2.9 mi | 51.8 | 25% | 18% |
| Sandiacre | 9,373 | 3.4 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 27% |
| Aston-on-Trent | 2,433 | 3.5 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 26% |
| Long Eaton | 37,815 | 3.9 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Derby | 275,561 | 4.2 mi | 37.4 | 16% | 30% |
| West Hallam | 5,912 | 4.2 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 23% |
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 Borrowash’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. Borrowash’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,171 people in 2021, against 7,171 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 Borrowash’s residents
What is the population of Borrowash?
The 2021 Census counted 7,171 people in Borrowash’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,100 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Borrowash?
The median age was 47.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 73% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Borrowash?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Borrowash?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Borrowash good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Borrowash’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. 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.