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Medieval Market Cross, LydneyPhoto: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
44Median age
Who lives here · ONS Census 2021 & mid-year estimates

In 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 stands out · In brief

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.

Population since 2011

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

LydneyEnglandAll of Gloucestershire
1001101201302012201420162018202020222024Lydney 127England 110All of Gloucestershire 113

Change by age, 2011 to 2024

LydneyEngland
0 to 15+26%
16 to 29+14%
30 to 44+40%
45 to 64+18%
65 and over+39%

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.

Ages

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.

LydneyEngland’s towns
0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

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+

2535455565

■ Lydney, 44. The typical town is 44.4.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1517%
15 to 249.9%
25 to 4424%
45 to 6426%
65 and over23%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

51% women, 49% men

Lydney
England
WomenMen

About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

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

Full-time students4%
Higher managerial and professional8.8%
Lower managerial and professional17%
Intermediate13%
Small employers and self-employed11%
Supervisory and technical7.6%
Semi-routine16%
Routine16%
Never worked or long-term unemployed7.1%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

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

Lydney
10%
England’s towns
11%
Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad
Moved in within a year
965
residents, 10%; England’s towns 11%
Of them from abroad
23
0.2× England’s share

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.

Households

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.

Living alone, 66+ 14%Living alone, under 66 15%Families with dependent children 26%Couples and families, no young children 42%Shared houses and other 2.4%

Against Gloucestershire’s towns and England’s towns

Lydney
Gloucestershire’s towns
England’s towns

People per household

1 person30%
2 people39%
3 people16%
4 people10%
5 or more5.9%

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%.

Homes & cars

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

Lydney
Gloucestershire’s towns
England’s towns
DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van15%
One42%
Two32%
Three or more11%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns

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.

Where people were born

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%

Lydney
5.1%
Gloucestershire’s towns
10%
England’s towns
18%
EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

When those born abroad arrived

LydneyEngland’s towns
Before 19711971–801981–901991–20002001–102011–132014–162017–192020–21

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language98%
Another main language, speaks English very well or well1.7%
Another main language, little or no English0.3%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns

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.

Ethnicity & religion

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

LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns
Other White2.8%
Asian0.8%
Mixed1%
Black0.3%
Other0.4%
0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 95% of Lydney · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns
No religion43%
Christian50%
Muslim0.6%
Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.5%
Other religion0.5%
Didn’t answer6.2%
0%30%60%

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%.

Relationships & caring

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

Never married or in a civil partnership35%
Married or civil partnership46%
Separated2.2%
Divorced10%
Widowed7%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns
834residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 9.1%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week4.4%
20 to 49 hours1.7%
50 hours or more3.1%

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.

Qualifications

Degree-level qualifications reach 23% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications19%
Apprenticeship6.9%
A levels or similar18%
Degree level23%
LydneyGloucestershire’s townsEngland’s towns

Degree-level qualifications cover 23% of adults in Lydney, 34% across England’s towns; 19% have no qualification, against 18%.

Towns its size

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.

Lydney 44
TidworthSeatonLees
274562

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).

Neighbours

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.

Yorkley and WhitecroftBreamSharpnessBlakeneyBerkeleyRuspidgeBroadwell and CoalwayLydney
under 3838–4444–5050–5656+
TownPeopleAwayMedian age65+Homes with children
Lydney9,655—4423%26%
Yorkley and Whitecroft2,6782.1 mi5127%23%
Bream3,1172.5 mi48.624%26%
Sharpness1,2372.6 mi39.917%30%
Blakeney1,3033 mi49.426%23%
Berkeley2,2503.8 mi4624%24%
Ruspidge2,4315.7 mi45.221%27%
Broadwell and Coalway3,3045.7 mi47.124%26%
More about Lydney’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

How to read these numbers

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.