Photo: Tina Cordon · CC BY-SA 3.0Older than 93% of UK towns: half of Heage is over 52.7
Compared with 29% across England’s towns, 21% of households have dependent children here. Households in detached houses account for 51%. Higher than in 97% of UK towns: 97% of residents describe themselves as White British. Heage had 2,584 residents in 1,182 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Heage’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Heage’s residents are under 52.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Heage sits above 90% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (29%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Heage, 52.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Heage ranks below 83% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 7.2%
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%.
The share of full-time students trails 72% of UK towns: 4.3%. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 80% of UK towns: 2.2 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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 1.8% in Heage. In Heage, 31% of households are one person living alone.
Below 90% of UK towns: 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
By its share of households in terraced houses (11%), Heage is below 86% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment. The census found that just over one in ten households have no car or van locally.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.1%, a lower share than 90% 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 (1.5%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 96% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Heage: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 80% 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: 97% of Heage · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Heage, 38% of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 89% of UK towns: 26%
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
Where 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, Heage has 11%. The town has more married adults and civil partners than 79% of UK towns, at 53%. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Heage, 31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 19% have no qualification at all (18%).
219 UK towns of 2,500 to 3,000 people: this is the 26th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest St Mary's Bay (60.8). Nearest to Heage in age: Rowlands Castle (52.4), South Anston (52.7), Loggerheads (52.7) and Rolleston on Dove (52.7).
Of the 7 towns nearest Heage, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heage | 2,584 | — | 52.7 | 29% | 21% |
| Ambergate | 1,566 | 1.2 mi | 49.6 | 23% | 25% |
| Belper | 19,076 | 1.6 mi | 47.1 | 22% | 24% |
| Ripley | 20,191 | 2.1 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 24% |
| Denby Bottles | 1,756 | 2.4 mi | 38.4 | 15% | 32% |
| Crich | 2,070 | 2.8 mi | 51.3 | 28% | 23% |
| Holbrook | 1,802 | 2.9 mi | 53 | 32% | 23% |
| Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse | 4,447 | 3.1 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 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 Heage’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 Heage’s residents
What is the population of Heage?
The 2021 Census counted 2,584 people in Heage’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Heage?
The median age was 52.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 93% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Heage?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Heage?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Heage good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Heage’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.