Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Clay Cross ranks above 96% of UK towns on one-person households: 38%
Married adults and civil partners make up 41%, against 44% across England’s towns. 8,915 residents in 4,202 households: that is Clay Cross at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 27% of households have no car or van. At 1.7%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in 86% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Clay Cross’s people
More with no religion than most
50% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Clay Cross at 7,900 in 2011 and 9,400 in 2024, up 18%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 82% 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.
From 2011 to 2024, Clay Cross outgrew 82% of UK towns: +18%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Clay Cross’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,900 people in 2011; 9,400 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +29% for the 30 to 44 to +4% for the 16 to 29. Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 280, its biggest one-year gain.
In Clay Cross, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.6% of residents. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Half of Clay Cross’s residents are under 43.5, younger than in 58% of UK towns. Add to that, the share of residents aged 65 and over trails 54% of UK towns: 21%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Clay Cross, 43.5. 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.
4.1% of adults are full-time students, below 82% 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%.
21% of Clay Cross’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 37% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 9.2% locally. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 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.
The figure for households with dependent children is 24% in Clay Cross and 29% across England’s towns.
A higher share of households in terraced houses than 78% of UK towns, at 28%
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 23% across England’s towns, 13% of households live in a flat or apartment in Clay Cross. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. 21% of households live in a detached house.
Residents born outside the UK make up 4% in Clay Cross, less than in 77% 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
17% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. The census found that 98% of residents have English as their main language in Clay Cross.
50% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 94% 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 Clay Cross · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Chinese (0.3%). Across England’s towns, residents with no religion come to 37%. Lower than in 82% of UK towns: 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Meanwhile, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 95% in Clay Cross.
More unpaid carers than 86% of UK towns: 11%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 348 people. As a yardstick, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 36%, more than in 70% of UK towns.
Qualified to degree level: 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
19% of Clay Cross’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 27% have none (18%).
183rd youngest of 482 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Clay Cross in age: Immingham (43.4), Barwell (43.4), Sandiacre (43.5) and Sawston (43.5).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Clay Cross
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Cross | 8,915 | — | 43.5 | 21% | 24% |
| Old Tupton | 4,190 | 1.4 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 22% |
| Pilsley and Lower Pilsley | 3,470 | 1.8 mi | 44.9 | 20% | 24% |
| North Wingfield and Holmewood | 9,545 | 2 mi | 43 | 20% | 24% |
| Morton | 1,335 | 2 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 25% |
| Grassmoor | 3,528 | 2.5 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 28% |
| Wingerworth | 6,404 | 2.5 mi | 50.5 | 30% | 21% |
| Shirland and Stonebroom | 3,988 | 2.7 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 24% |
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 Clay Cross’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. Clay Cross’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,541 people in 2021, against 8,915 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 Clay Cross’s residents
What is the population of Clay Cross?
The 2021 Census counted 8,915 people in Clay Cross’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,400 people in mid-2024, 18% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Clay Cross?
The median age was 43.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 58% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Clay Cross?
95% 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 Clay Cross?
50% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Clay Cross good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Clay Cross’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.