Photo: Richard Vince · CC BY-SA 2.0

47.8Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021 & mid-year estimates

Whitwell sits above 92% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (96%)

A household here has 2.1 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Lower than in 85% of UK towns: 23% of households have dependent children. Whitwell is home to 3,722 residents in 1,734 households, by the 2021 Census. For Whitwell, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 9%.

+2%people since 2011 23%aged 65 or over 3%born abroad 1,734households

What stands out · In brief

What the Census says about Whitwell’s people

12%of residents give unpaid care; England’s towns 8.7%

Many carers

408 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% 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.

Population since 2011

Whitwell changed by +2% from 2011 to 2024, behind 76% of UK towns

ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Whitwell’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.

People, mid-2011 = 100

WhitwellEnglandAll of Derbyshire

Change by age, 2011 to 2024

WhitwellEngland

0 to 15±0%

16 to 29−8%

30 to 44−4%

45 to 64−4%

65 and over+25%

About 3,900 people in 2011; 4,000 in 2024.

Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+25%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−8%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2014 to mid-2015, 70 people.

Ages

A median age of 47.8: Whitwell is older than 73% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

WhitwellEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

23% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). The largest age band is 60–64: 8.6% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns.

Median age of UK towns of 2,500+

2535455565

■ Whitwell, 47.8. The typical town is 44.4.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1514%

15 to 249%

25 to 4423%

45 to 6431%

65 and over23%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

51% women, 49% men

Whitwell

England

WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

A lower share of full-time students than 76% of UK towns, at 4.2%

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

Full-time students4.2%

Higher managerial and professional8.7%

Lower managerial and professional18%

Intermediate11%

Small employers and self-employed9.7%

Supervisory and technical8%

Semi-routine15%

Routine17%

Never worked or long-term unemployed9.1%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Whitwell

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

331

residents, 9%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0.3× England’s share

Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Whitwell has 9%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.

Households

A larger share of one-person households than 82% of UK towns: 34%

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 15%Living alone, under 66 19%Families with dependent children 23%Couples and families, no young children 41%Shared houses and other 1.8%

Against Derbyshire’s towns and England’s towns

Whitwell

Derbyshire’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person34%

2 people38%

3 people15%

4 people10%

5 or more3.2%

England’s towns.

Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Whitwell comes in at 1.8%. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison.

Homes & cars

A lower share of households in terraced houses than 68% of UK towns, at 16%

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Whitwell

Derbyshire’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van17%

One44%

Two30%

Three or more8.5%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Here 25% of households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison. Census figures put households in flats at 8.5% in Whitwell. Compared with other places, households without a car or van are common here: 17%, more than in three fifths of UK towns.

Where people were born

3% born outside the UK, fewer than in 90% 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%

Whitwell

3.1%

Derbyshire’s towns

8.6%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

When those born abroad arrived

WhitwellEngland’s towns

Before 19711971–801981–901991–20002001–102011–132014–162017–192020–21

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language99%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.8%

Another main language, little or no English0.4%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). Whitwell has more residents whose main language is English than 80% of UK towns, at 99%. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. Just over a tenth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.

Ethnicity & religion

In Whitwell, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 74% 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

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White1.6%

Asian0.5%

Mixed0.8%

Black0.4%

Other0.2%

0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 96% of Whitwell · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion39%

Christian54%

Muslim0.3%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.7%

Other religion0.8%

Didn’t answer5.4%

0%30%60%

Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Whitwell comes in at 39%. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Caribbean (0.2%). To put it in context, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.

Relationships & caring

More unpaid carers than 93% of UK towns: 12%

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership32%

Married or civil partnership46%

Separated3%

Divorced12%

Widowed7.6%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

408residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 12%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week5.3%

20 to 49 hours2.4%

50 hours or more3.8%

Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 136. Whitwell has fewer married adults and civil partners than 65% of UK towns, at 46%. The share of unpaid carers across England’s towns is 8.7%. Here nearly a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 39%.

Qualifications

24% of adults are qualified to degree level

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications23%

Apprenticeship6.7%

A levels or similar17%

Degree level24%

WhitwellDerbyshire’s townsEngland’s towns

Degree-level qualifications are held by 24% of adults in Whitwell (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 23% (England’s towns: 18%).

Towns its size

Ranked by age, 217th oldest of 530 UK towns this size

Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.

Whitwell 47.8

BailriggMilford on SeaAmlwch

174266

Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Whitwell in age: Cross Hills (47.8), Disley (47.8), Elm and Emneth (47.8) and Barton-le-Clay (47.8).

Neighbours

Older than Whitwell: 1 of the 7 towns nearby

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

CreswellClowneBarlboroughShireoaksHarthillLangwithWorksopWhitwell

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Whitwell	3,722	—	47.8	23%	23%
Creswell	5,792	1.6 mi	38.9	19%	29%
Clowne	7,759	2.4 mi	45.6	23%	26%
Barlborough	2,859	3.3 mi	47.6	21%	27%
Shireoaks	1,774	3.3 mi	44.5	20%	30%
Harthill	1,729	3.4 mi	50.8	27%	23%
Langwith	3,009	3.9 mi	42.2	19%	26%
Worksop	43,435	4 mi	42.9	19%	28%

More about Whitwell’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

Health DLife expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commute DIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of living B⁺Owners and renters, prices, rents and council tax Schools B⁺Every primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

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 Whitwell’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. Whitwell’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,926 people in 2021, against 3,722 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 Whitwell’s residents

What is the population of Whitwell?

The 2021 Census counted 3,722 people in Whitwell’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,000 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.

What is the average age in Whitwell?

The median age was 47.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 73% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Whitwell?

96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Whitwell?

39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.

Is Whitwell good for families?

23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Whitwell’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.