Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Somercotes and Swanwick ranks above 91% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 49%
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 5.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in Somercotes and Swanwick. There were 6,772 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 15,105 residents. Just over a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. This Derbyshire town has more households without a car or van than nearly two thirds of UK towns, at 18%.
What the Census says about Somercotes and Swanwick’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Many carers
1,624 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 92% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, 69% of UK towns grew faster than Somercotes and Swanwick: +4%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Somercotes and Swanwick’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,600 people in 2011; 16,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+35%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−7%). In one year, mid-2018 to mid-2019, the population rose by 210, the most of any year.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 62% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Somercotes and Swanwick is 44.9, higher than in 53% of UK towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.7% of residents. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Somercotes and Swanwick, 44.9. 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.
In Somercotes and Swanwick, 3.9% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 88% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 26% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 34% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Few places have so few residents who moved in within the year: 7.5% here, fewer than in 76% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
Somercotes and Swanwick households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 71% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.1%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: just over a quarter of the total.
More households in detached houses than 61% of UK towns: 33%
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 24% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house in Somercotes and Swanwick. 5.7% of households live in a flat, less than in 79% of UK towns; 33% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 79% of UK towns: 3.9%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 12% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 75% of UK towns, at 95%
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 Somercotes and Swanwick · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Somercotes and Swanwick, 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.3%).
Somercotes and Swanwick sits above 92% of UK towns for unpaid carers (11%)
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
45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers make up 8.7% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 22% of its adults qualified to degree level, Somercotes and Swanwick compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 22% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 39 in Somercotes & Pye Bridge to 49 in Swanwick & Leabrooks
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.
Swanwick & Leabrooks is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Somercotes & Pye Bridge the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Somercotes & Pye Bridge (30% of households).
333 UK towns of 11,000 to 20,000 people: this is the 140th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Somercotes and Swanwick in age: Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint (44.8), Kidsgrove (44.9), Leominster (44.9) and Dorking (44.9).
Somercotes and Swanwick sits below 4 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somercotes and Swanwick | 15,105 | — | 44.9 | 21% | 26% |
| Alfreton | 8,790 | 1.6 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 25% |
| Ironville | 1,824 | 1.6 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 26% |
| Ripley | 20,191 | 2.1 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 24% |
| Jacksdale and Westwood | 2,758 | 2.1 mi | 48 | 23% | 24% |
| South Normanton and Pinxton | 16,028 | 2.5 mi | 43.8 | 19% | 25% |
| South Wingfield | 1,079 | 3.1 mi | 52.2 | 28% | 20% |
| Selston | 6,278 | 3.2 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 25% |
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 Somercotes and Swanwick’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. Somercotes and Swanwick’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,967 people in 2021, against 15,105 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 Somercotes and Swanwick’s residents
What is the population of Somercotes and Swanwick?
The 2021 Census counted 15,105 people in Somercotes and Swanwick’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,200 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Somercotes and Swanwick?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 53% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Somercotes and Swanwick?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Somercotes and Swanwick?
49% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Somercotes and Swanwick good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Somercotes & Pye Bridge (30% of households). Schools are on Somercotes and Swanwick’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.