Photo: Andrew Hill · CC BY-SA 2.05.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 99% of UK towns
Nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 1.2% in Wessington. The village had 757 residents and 318 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 45.1. In Wessington, 51% of households live in a detached house. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23%, a higher share than 59% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.9% of residents. Half of Wessington’s residents are over 45.1, older than in 54% of UK towns. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2.6%
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%.
By class, 42% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across Wessington, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Wessington ranks below 91% of UK towns on one-person households: 24%
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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%. A household here holds 2.3 people on average.
Households without a car or van make up 7.1% in Wessington, less than in 95% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Wessington comes in at 8.3%. About one household in 14 lives without a car or van.
1.6% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 99% 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
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Wessington comes in at 99%. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (0.5%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.3%).
In Wessington, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 88% 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: 96% of Wessington · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 39% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. At 56%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is higher than in 85% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Mixed or multiple (1.7%), Other White (1.2%) and Caribbean (0.3%).
55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 87% 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
26 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. At 9.6%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
35% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
35% of Wessington’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have none (18%).
Wessington is younger than 5 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wessington | 757 | — | 45.1 | 23% | 27% |
| South Wingfield | 1,079 | 1.3 mi | 52.2 | 28% | 20% |
| Shirland and Stonebroom | 3,988 | 1.9 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 24% |
| Crich | 2,070 | 2.6 mi | 51.3 | 28% | 23% |
| Morton | 1,335 | 2.8 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 25% |
| Alfreton | 8,790 | 3.1 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 25% |
| Tansley | 1,176 | 3.2 mi | 54.8 | 32% | 20% |
| Clay Cross | 8,915 | 3.7 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 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 Wessington’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 Wessington’s residents
What is the population of Wessington?
The 2021 Census counted 757 people in Wessington’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wessington?
The median age was 45.1 at the 2021 Census. 5.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wessington?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 1.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wessington?
39% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 3.6% didn’t answer.
Is Wessington good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wessington’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.