Photo: Dave Dunford Dave.Dunford · Public domainA median age of 51.2: Furness Vale is older than 90% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Furness Vale has 22%. 1,069 residents in 503 households: that is Furness Vale at the 2021 Census. For Furness Vale, the census puts households in terraced houses at 37%. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 85% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Furness Vale’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Furness Vale’s residents are under 51.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 24% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
117 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
7.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 69% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
A smaller share of full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.2%
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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Furness Vale has 6.8%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 86% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 1.8%, Furness Vale is behind four fifths of UK towns on that count. On the census count, 31% of households are one person living alone.
A smaller share of households in flats than 61% of UK towns: 8.8%
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
Households in detached houses are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 21%. To put it in context, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 16%.
2.5% born outside the UK, fewer than in 96% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in 96% of UK towns.
Residents with no religion make up 43% in Furness Vale, more than in 66% 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: 96% of Furness Vale · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.1%). As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Furness Vale has 51%.
Unpaid carers make up 11% in Furness Vale, more than in 93% 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
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. The benchmark for unpaid carers across England’s towns: 8.7%. Adults who have never married: 31% of the total.
A degree-level qualification for 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
16% of Furness Vale’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 30% have one at degree level (34%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Furness Vale, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | — | 51.2 | 24% | 22% |
| New Mills | 9,195 | 1.3 mi | 45.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | 1.4 mi | 49.6 | 23% | 24% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 1.9 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 2.2 mi | 45.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 2.8 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 3.4 mi | 57.2 | 37% | 19% |
| Chapel-en-le-Frith | 7,235 | 3.5 mi | 45.4 | 23% | 27% |
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 Furness 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 Furness Vale’s residents
What is the population of Furness Vale?
The 2021 Census counted 1,069 people in Furness Vale’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Furness Vale?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Furness Vale?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 2.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Furness Vale?
43% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Furness Vale good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Furness 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.