Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.2: Wirksworth is older than 92% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Wirksworth has 21%. Locally, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 11%, more than in 88% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Wirksworth was home to 4,904 people in 2,321 households.
What the Census says about Wirksworth’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wirksworth’s residents are under 52.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
29% of Wirksworth is 65 or over, a higher share than 88% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.6% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Locally, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wirksworth, 52.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 3.8% of adults are full-time students in Wirksworth
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 36% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 23% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across Wirksworth, 7.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 92% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. On one-person households, Wirksworth sits higher than just over four fifths of UK towns: 34%.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 70% of UK towns, at 37%
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
9.1% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house. Households without a car or van account for 16%.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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 (1.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 3.4% here, fewer than in 85% of UK towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 13% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
43% of residents said they have no religion, a share 63% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Wirksworth · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.1%). The benchmark for residents with no religion across England’s towns: 37%. In Wirksworth, 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 66% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 138. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%. Here 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 39%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
39% of Wirksworth’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 99th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Wirksworth in age: Carleton (52.2), Ravenshead (52.2), Gnosall (52.2) and Oaklands (52.2).
3 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Wirksworth
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Wirksworth’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 Wirksworth’s residents
What is the population of Wirksworth?
The 2021 Census counted 4,904 people in Wirksworth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wirksworth?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wirksworth?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wirksworth?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Wirksworth good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wirksworth’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.