Photo: Andrew Hill · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households in terraced houses than 95% of UK towns, at 7.1%
Where 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Dronfield has 25%. The town counted 21,161 residents and 9,468 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.5% in the town. Half of the town’s residents are over 49.9, older than in 84% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Dronfield’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 89% of UK towns; 18% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
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 ±0% change since 2011: slower than 84% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dronfield’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 21,300 people in 2011; 21,200 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+15%) and 45 to 64 least (−9%).
Above 89% of UK towns: 29% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. At 8.8%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 80% 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+
■ Dronfield, 49.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 92% of UK towns, at 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Dronfield has 40% and 20%. Fewer full-time students than in 69% of UK towns: 4.4%. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children: 25%, a lower share than 69% 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.
Households average 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Against that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Across Dronfield, 30% of households are one person living alone.
More detached houses than 80% of UK towns: 42% of households
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
Nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 13% in Dronfield. Here, 7.6% of households live in a flat or apartment. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.2%, a lower share than 88% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 99%, more than in 84% of UK towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 9.5% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
A higher White British share than 84% of UK towns: 96% of residents
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 Dronfield · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian; in Dronfield, 53%. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.2%). Fewer residents with no religion than in 52% of UK towns: 41%.
Dronfield sits above 87% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (55%)
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
573 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. At 10%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in 77% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Dronfield, 34% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 15% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 46 in Dronfield Town & Unstone to 55 in Eckington West & Coal Aston
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Eckington West & Coal Aston is the oldest area, with 37% aged 65 or over; Dronfield Town & Unstone the youngest (median age 46). Families with children are most common in Dronfield South & Gosforth Lane (28% of households).
16th oldest of 289 UK towns of 15,000 to 29,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bangor (26.4), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Dronfield in age: Hythe and Dibden Purlieu (49.5), Great Bookham and Fetcham (49.7), Herne Bay (49.9) and Stourport-on-Severn (50.2).
Dronfield and its 7 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dronfield | 21,161 | — | 49.9 | 29% | 25% |
| Chesterfield | 76,394 | 4.3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 23% |
| Eckington | 7,435 | 4.4 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 24% |
| Brimington | 11,068 | 4.7 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 24% |
| Sheffield | 500,520 | 5.1 mi | 36.2 | 16% | 27% |
| Staveley | 15,151 | 5.3 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 29% |
| Holymoorside | 1,363 | 5.6 mi | 55.5 | 33% | 20% |
| Renishaw | 2,425 | 6 mi | 38.6 | 14% | 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 Dronfield’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. Dronfield’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 21,161 people in 2021, against 21,161 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 Dronfield’s residents
What is the population of Dronfield?
The 2021 Census counted 21,161 people in Dronfield’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 21,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Dronfield?
The median age was 49.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dronfield?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dronfield?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Dronfield good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Dronfield South & Gosforth Lane (28% of households). Schools are on Dronfield’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.