Moss Cottage · Photo: Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0Bowdon ranks below 98% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 25%
Married adults and civil partners: 59% here and 44% across England’s towns. With a median age of 48.6, Bowdon is older than 77% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Bowdon was home to 6,107 people in 2,397 households. On the census count, 43% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Bowdon’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Bowdon at 6,200 in 2011 and 6,100 in 2024, down 3%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 93% 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.
From 2011 to 2024, 93% of UK towns grew faster than Bowdon: −3%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bowdon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,200 people in 2011; 6,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+30%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−23%).
25% of Bowdon is 65 or over, a higher share than 73% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8.2% of residents. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Bowdon comes in at 10%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bowdon, 48.6. 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.
7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 69% 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%.
At 7.3%, the share of full-time students is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
25% of households are one person living alone, below 86% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Greater Manchester’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Where 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, Bowdon has 1.8%. Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%. Households here average 2.5 people each. On households with dependent children, Bowdon sits higher than 78% of UK towns: 31%.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 87% of UK towns: 9%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Bowdon has 20%. To put it in context, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Here, 17% of households live in a terraced house.
More residents born abroad than 83% of UK towns: 13% in Bowdon
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 share of residents whose main language is English trails 78% of UK towns: 95%. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (7.2%) and in EU countries (3.3%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 76% in Bowdon, less than in 88% 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: 76% of Bowdon · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 6.6% of residents. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 51%, more than in three fifths of UK towns.
Bowdon ranks below 94% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 24%
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
102 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Across England’s towns, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Fewer unpaid carers than in three quarters of UK towns: 8.4%.
Qualified to degree level: 58% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 58% of Bowdon’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 9.2% have no qualification (18%). Many of the 11% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
186th highest median age among 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Bowdon in age: Quorndon (48.5), Howden (48.6), Annesley Woodhouse (48.6) and Writtle (48.6).
Of the 7 towns nearest Bowdon, 1 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowdon | 6,107 | — | 48.6 | 25% | 31% |
| Hale | 16,716 | 1.4 mi | 43.9 | 20% | 37% |
| Altrincham | 49,672 | 1.8 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 34% |
| Sale | 62,545 | 3.5 mi | 41.6 | 18% | 33% |
| High Legh | 1,145 | 3.9 mi | 55 | 33% | 24% |
| Partington | 7,706 | 4.1 mi | 36.7 | 16% | 35% |
| Wythenshawe | 97,665 | 4.2 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Mobberley | 1,349 | 4.4 mi | 44.4 | 23% | 29% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Greater Manchester’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Greater Manchester (or England), summed the same way as Bowdon’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. Bowdon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,117 people in 2021, against 6,107 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 Bowdon’s residents
What is the population of Bowdon?
The 2021 Census counted 6,107 people in Bowdon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,100 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bowdon?
The median age was 48.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 77% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bowdon?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bowdon?
25% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 6.6% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Bowdon good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bowdon’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.