Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0No religion: 47% of residents, a higher share than 84% of UK towns
Here 6.9% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. 1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a lower share than in 73% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Swadlincote’s population at 34,569, in 14,989 households. Residents aged 15 to 24: 10% of the total.
A growing town: +13% since 2011, faster than 71% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Swadlincote’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 33,700 people in 2011; 38,100 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+45%) and the 16 to 29 least (+1%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 840 people.
A median age of 41.7: Swadlincote is younger than 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.8% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Swadlincote, 41.7. 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.
Full-time students: 4.5%, a lower share than 64% 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%.
In Swadlincote, just over a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, 8.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
28% of households have dependent children, a share 59% of UK towns don’t reach
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 average 2.3 people. One-person households: 29% here and 30% across England’s towns.
Households in detached houses make up 32% in Swadlincote, more than in 57% 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
Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Swadlincote has 19%. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%. Households without a car or van: 16% of the total.
Only 4.8% of residents were born outside the UK in Swadlincote
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 largest groups were born in EU countries (3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. 13% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 64% of UK towns: 94%
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 Swadlincote · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Nothing unusual on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46%, close to the figure across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.5%).
A larger share of adults who have never married than 62% of UK towns: 34%
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
Compared with 8.7% across England’s towns, one in ten residents give unpaid care here. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 46% here, fewer than in just over three fifths of UK towns. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 1,057 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Swadlincote’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have none (18%).
From a median age of 38 in Swadlincote South to 44 in Swadlincote Central
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Swadlincote Central is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Swadlincote South the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Swadlincote East (40% of households).
203 UK towns of 24,000 to 47,000 people: this is the 91st youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Swadlincote in age: Grantham (41.6), Woodley (41.6), Wisbech (41.7) and Newport (41.7).
Older than Swadlincote: 5 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swadlincote | 34,569 | — | 41.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Woodville | 7,255 | 1.5 mi | 36.6 | 12% | 33% |
| Overseal and Castle Gresley | 5,055 | 2.4 mi | 41.9 | 19% | 29% |
| Blackfordby | 1,071 | 2.4 mi | 52.8 | 31% | 20% |
| Linton | 2,145 | 2.4 mi | 47.4 | 24% | 25% |
| Moira | 3,198 | 3 mi | 45.7 | 20% | 27% |
| Burton upon Trent | 76,264 | 3.8 mi | 37.5 | 15% | 31% |
| Donisthorpe | 1,204 | 3.9 mi | 43.1 | 13% | 32% |
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 Swadlincote’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. Swadlincote’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 35,641 people in 2021, against 34,569 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 Swadlincote’s residents
What is the population of Swadlincote?
The 2021 Census counted 34,569 people in Swadlincote’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 38,100 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Swadlincote?
The median age was 41.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 71% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Swadlincote?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Swadlincote?
47% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Swadlincote good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Swadlincote East (40% of households). Schools are on Swadlincote’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.