Photo: Mikey from Somewhere in Greater Manchester, UK · CC BY 2.041% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 95% of UK towns
Households in Hadfield hold 2.2 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). 18% of households have no car or van, a higher share than in 65% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 16,271 people lived in the town, in 7,296 households. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2%.
+3% since 2011, a pace below 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hadfield’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,700 people in 2011; 16,100 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2022 to mid-2023, the population rose by 200, the most of any year. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+29%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−16%).
Fewer young people than 62% of UK towns: 9.4% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 8% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in just over three fifths of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hadfield, 44. 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 63% of UK towns, at 8.1%
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 4.7% in Hadfield. Against that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Hadfield sits above 64% of UK towns for one-person households (31%)
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 with dependent children make up 27%, against 29% across England’s towns. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%.
Fewer households in detached houses than 77% of UK towns: 19%
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 flats are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns. Across the comparison, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Hadfield ranks above 86% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%
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
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 14%. Residents born outside the UK are rarer here than in 77% of UK towns. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across England’s towns is 90%. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Hadfield: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 71% 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 Hadfield · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Chinese (0.5%). Residents with no religion are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British. Half of residents describe themselves as Christian; across England’s towns the figure is 46%.
37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 76% of UK towns don’t reach
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
443 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. At 43%, the share of married adults and civil partners is lower than in just over four fifths of UK towns. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.2%.
Qualified to degree level: 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 30% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 38 in Hattersley to 48 in Mottram, Hollingworth & Broadbottom
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.
Mottram, Hollingworth & Broadbottom is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Hattersley the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Hattersley (33% of households).
380 UK towns of 11,000 to 22,000 people: this is the 190th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Hadfield in age: Frimley (43.9), Clitheroe (44), Balderton (44) and Tewkesbury (44).
Of the 7 towns nearest Hadfield, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hadfield | 16,271 | — | 44 | 20% | 27% |
| Gamesley | 3,124 | 0.9 mi | 36.5 | 13% | 33% |
| Glossop | 17,820 | 1.7 mi | 45.8 | 21% | 26% |
| Broadbottom | 1,001 | 1.8 mi | 48.8 | 23% | 22% |
| Hattersley | 6,959 | 2.2 mi | 34 | 12% | 35% |
| Stalybridge | 26,850 | 3.1 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 30% |
| Hyde | 35,902 | 3.7 mi | 39.3 | 17% | 31% |
| Dukinfield | 21,151 | 4.1 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 29% |
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 Hadfield’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. Hadfield’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,706 people in 2021, against 16,271 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 Hadfield’s residents
What is the population of Hadfield?
The 2021 Census counted 16,271 people in Hadfield’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,100 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hadfield?
The median age was 44 at the 2021 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hadfield?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hadfield?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Hadfield good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Hattersley (33% of households). Schools are on Hadfield’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.