Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0In Chesterfield, 37% of households are one person living alone, more than in 93% of UK towns
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 85% of UK towns. Chesterfield is home to 76,394 residents in 36,280 households, by the 2021 Census. Across Chesterfield, 43% of residents said they have no religion.
From 2011 to 2024, 77% of UK towns grew faster than Chesterfield: +2%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chesterfield’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 76,300 people in 2011; 77,600 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−10%). Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 1,070 people.
Chesterfield is older than 58% of UK towns: a median age of 45.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.9% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 53% of UK towns. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chesterfield, 45.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Chesterfield, 4.4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 71% 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%.
8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
Chesterfield ranks below 84% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 23%
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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 1.9% in Chesterfield and 4.3% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A larger share of households in flats than 66% of UK towns: 14%
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 18% of households live in a terraced house in Chesterfield. To put it in context, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households in detached houses stands at 26%. On households without a car or van, Chesterfield sits higher than 86% of UK towns: 25%.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 59% of UK towns: 5.5%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Chesterfield comes in at 97%. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%).
Chesterfield ranks below 59% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48%
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: 92% of Chesterfield · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
1% of residents said their religion is Muslim. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%. Higher than in just over half of UK towns: 92% of residents describe themselves as White British.
More adults who have never married than 68% of UK towns: 35%
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
2,423 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in three quarters of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 29%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Chesterfield’s adults: 29% with a degree-level qualification and 19% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 38 in Arkwright Town & Temple Normanton to 53 in Brookside & Walton
The town’s 13 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Brookside & Walton is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Arkwright Town & Temple Normanton the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Arkwright Town & Temple Normanton (37% of households).
Ranked by age, 8th oldest of 91 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Clacton-on-Sea (50.4). Nearest to Chesterfield in age: Eastbourne (45.2), Royal Sutton Coldfield (45.4), Lowestoft (46) and Scarborough (46.2).
Nearby, 4 of 7 towns have older populations than Chesterfield
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield | 76,394 | — | 45.5 | 22% | 23% |
| Brimington | 11,068 | 2 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 24% |
| Holymoorside | 1,363 | 2.8 mi | 55.5 | 33% | 20% |
| Wingerworth | 6,404 | 2.9 mi | 50.5 | 30% | 21% |
| Grassmoor | 3,528 | 3.4 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 28% |
| Staveley | 15,151 | 3.4 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 29% |
| Old Tupton | 4,190 | 4 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 22% |
| Duckmanton | 1,775 | 4.1 mi | 39.7 | 19% | 32% |
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 Chesterfield’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. Chesterfield’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 75,766 people in 2021, against 76,394 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 Chesterfield’s residents
What is the population of Chesterfield?
The 2021 Census counted 76,394 people in Chesterfield’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 77,600 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chesterfield?
The median age was 45.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chesterfield?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chesterfield?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Chesterfield good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Arkwright Town & Temple Normanton (37% of households). Schools are on Chesterfield’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 · 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.