Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in terraced houses: 41%, a higher share than 95% of UK towns
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.5%, New Mills is behind 85% of UK towns on that count. The town’s 4,200 households held 9,195 residents at the 2021 Census. The share of one-person households stands at 34%. At 16%, the share of households in detached houses is lower than in 83% of UK towns.
What the Census says about New Mills’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 45% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
New Mills sits below 62% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (20%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of New Mills’s residents are over 45.3, older than in 56% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8.3% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ New Mills, 45.3. 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.
Full-time students make up 4% in New Mills, less than in 85% 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%.
8.3% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 11% across England’s towns. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 80% 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.
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; New Mills has 2%. In New Mills, 25% of households have dependent children.
18% of households have no car or van, more than in 62% of UK towns
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, 9.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in New Mills. In one household in 6 there is no car or van.
Fewer residents born abroad than 70% of UK towns: 4.5%
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
The share of residents whose main language is English is 98%, against 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
New Mills ranks above 88% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 48%
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: 94% of New Mills · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Pakistani (0.1%). Lower than in nearly four fifths of UK towns: 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 86% across Derbyshire’s towns and 73% across England’s towns.
In New Mills, 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 74% 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
216 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. By way of comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 44% here, fewer than in 76% of UK towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.2%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 36%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
New Mills’s adults: 36% with a degree-level qualification and 15% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 43 in New Mills East & Hayfield to 47 in New Mills West & Furness Vale
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
New Mills West & Furness Vale is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; New Mills East & Hayfield the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in New Mills East & Hayfield (27% of households).
214th oldest 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.
At the ends of the range sit Tidworth (28.4), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to New Mills in age: Kingsteignton (45.2), Oswaldtwistle (45.3), Bolsover (45.3) and Countesthorpe (45.3).
The towns around New Mills are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mills | 9,195 | — | 45.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 1.3 mi | 51.2 | 24% | 22% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 1.5 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 2.4 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | 2.7 mi | 49.6 | 23% | 24% |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 2.8 mi | 57.2 | 37% | 19% |
| Marple Bridge | 4,702 | 3.1 mi | 49 | 26% | 29% |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 3.2 mi | 45.4 | 21% | 28% |
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 New Mills’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 New Mills’s residents
What is the population of New Mills?
The 2021 Census counted 9,195 people in New Mills’s built-up area.
What is the average age in New Mills?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is New Mills?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in New Mills?
48% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is New Mills good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in New Mills East & Hayfield (27% of households). Schools are on New Mills’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) · 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.