Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 83% of UK towns: half of Whaley Bridge is over 49.6
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 96% in Whaley Bridge and 73% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 4,618 residents and 2,067 households locally. In Whaley Bridge, 29% of households live in a terraced house. Households in flats are rarer here than in 77% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Whaley Bridge’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Whaley Bridge at 5,000 in 2011 and 5,000 in 2024, down 1%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 90% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Whaley Bridge’s population moved −1% on 2011, less than in 90% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Whaley Bridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,000 people in 2011; 5,000 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+33%), the 0 to 15 group the smallest (−18%).
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 23% in Whaley Bridge.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Whaley Bridge, 49.6. 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.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 67% of UK towns: 7.9%
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, just over two in five adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). At 4.9%, the share of full-time students is higher than in 55% of UK towns. Against that, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households with dependent children than 79% of UK towns: 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.
One-person households make up 31%, against 30% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 29% across England’s towns, for comparison. The census found that 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Whaley Bridge.
More detached houses than 70% of UK towns: 37% of households
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
12% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Against that, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Whaley Bridge sits above 92% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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 newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are just over a tenth of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. Here, 3.9% of residents were born outside the UK.
Above 71% of UK towns: 44% of residents said they have no religion
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 Whaley Bridge · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.2%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 50%, fewer than in half of UK towns.
More married adults and civil partners than 65% of UK towns: 50%
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
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 8.9%, about the same as across England’s towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. Adults who have never married account for 31%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 42% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Whaley Bridge, 42% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 12% have no qualification at all (18%).
Ranked by age, 181st oldest of 695 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Whaley Bridge in age: Llandrindod Wells (49.5), Whalley (49.6), Cheddleton (49.6) and Doddinghurst (49.6).
3 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Whaley Bridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | — | 49.6 | 23% | 24% |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 1.4 mi | 51.2 | 24% | 22% |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 2.1 mi | 45.4 | 21% | 28% |
| New Mills | 9,195 | 2.7 mi | 45.3 | 20% | 25% |
| Disley | 3,891 | 2.8 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 26% |
| Chapel-en-le-Frith | 7,235 | 2.9 mi | 45.4 | 23% | 27% |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 4 mi | 52.1 | 27% | 23% |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 4.2 mi | 57.2 | 37% | 19% |
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 Whaley Bridge’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. Whaley Bridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,892 people in 2021, against 4,618 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 Whaley Bridge’s residents
What is the population of Whaley Bridge?
The 2021 Census counted 4,618 people in Whaley Bridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,000 people in mid-2024, 1% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Whaley Bridge?
The median age was 49.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 83% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Whaley Bridge?
96% 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 Whaley Bridge?
44% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Whaley Bridge good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whaley Bridge’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. 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.