Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0In Lydney, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 74% of UK towns
The share of households in detached houses tops nearly two thirds of UK towns: 35%. In 2021, the Census found 9,655 residents in Lydney, living in 4,254 households. Census figures put households in flats at 9.1% in the town. Fewer households with dependent children than in 65% of UK towns: 26%.
What the Census says about Lydney’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Lydney at 8,400 in 2011 and 10,700 in 2024, up 27%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 92% 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.
Growth of +27% since 2011 puts Lydney ahead of 92% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lydney’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,400 people in 2011; 10,700 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2022 to mid-2023: 400 people. Change by age ran from +40% for the 30 to 44 to +14% for the 16 to 29.
23% of Lydney is 65 or over, a higher share than 58% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.4% of residents. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one in ten residents, against 12% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lydney, 44. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Lydney, 4% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 84% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 10%, against 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Lydney households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 58% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gloucestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.4% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. The share of one-person households stands at 30%.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 66% 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
Cars or vans · share of households
The census found that 15% of households have no car or van in Lydney. As a yardstick, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 5.1%, a lower share than 63% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Set against 90% across England’s towns, 98% of residents have English as their main language in Lydney.
43% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 62% 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: 95% of Lydney · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.2%). Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Here 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%.
35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 280. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. On married adults and civil partners, Lydney sits lower than 64% of UK towns: 46%. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, about the same as across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 23% of adults in Lydney, 34% across England’s towns; 19% have no qualification, against 18%.
Ranked by age, 190th youngest of 413 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Seaton the oldest (61). Nearest to Lydney in age: Tring (44), Thame (44), Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green (44) and Corsham (44.1).
Lydney sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lydney | 9,655 | — | 44 | 23% | 26% |
| Yorkley and Whitecroft | 2,678 | 2.1 mi | 51 | 27% | 23% |
| Bream | 3,117 | 2.5 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 26% |
| Sharpness | 1,237 | 2.6 mi | 39.9 | 17% | 30% |
| Blakeney | 1,303 | 3 mi | 49.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Berkeley | 2,250 | 3.8 mi | 46 | 24% | 24% |
| Ruspidge | 2,431 | 5.7 mi | 45.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Broadwell and Coalway | 3,304 | 5.7 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Gloucestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gloucestershire (or England), summed the same way as Lydney’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. Lydney’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,730 people in 2021, against 9,655 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 Lydney’s residents
What is the population of Lydney?
The 2021 Census counted 9,655 people in Lydney’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,700 people in mid-2024, 27% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lydney?
The median age was 44 at the 2021 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lydney?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 5.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lydney?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Lydney good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lydney’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.