Photo: Stephen Richards · CC BY-SA 2.0

48.8Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Delph sits above 95% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (42%)

With a median age of 48.8, Delph is older than 79% of UK towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.4% in the village. The village counted 2,282 residents and 1,045 households at the 2021 Census. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 57%, against 46% across England’s towns.

27%aged 65 or over 2.6%born abroad 1,045households

Ages

Above 81% of UK towns: 27% of residents are 65 or over

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

DelphEngland’s towns

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

In Delph, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 7.6% of residents.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1515%

15 to 249.2%

25 to 4421%

45 to 6429%

65 and over27%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

52% women, 48% men

Delph

England

WomenMen

About 91 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.

Students & newcomers

Delph: 5.3% of adults are full-time students, above 70% 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 students5.3%

Higher managerial and professional17%

Lower managerial and professional26%

Intermediate14%

Small employers and self-employed12%

Supervisory and technical3.7%

Semi-routine8%

Routine7.9%

Never worked or long-term unemployed6.1%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

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

Delph

8.4%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

182

residents, 8.1%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0.2× England’s share

Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Delph, 43% and 16%. By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.

The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.

Households

Delph: 34% of households are one person living alone, above 82% of UK towns

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

Living alone, 66+ 20%Living alone, under 66 14%Families with dependent children 25%Couples and families, no young children 39%Shared houses and other 1.4%

Against Greater Manchester’s towns and England’s towns

Delph

Greater Manchester’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person34%

2 people35%

3 people16%

4 people12%

5 or more3.3%

England’s towns.

Households with dependent children: 25%, below 68% of UK towns. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns.

Homes & cars

A smaller share of households in detached houses than 73% of UK towns: 20%

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

Type of home

Delph

Greater Manchester’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van16%

One42%

Two32%

Three or more10%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Delph has 12%. Locally, 16% of households have no car or van. Elsewhere, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.

Where people were born

Delph ranks below 95% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 2.6%

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%

Delph

2.6%

Greater Manchester’s towns

17%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language99%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.6%

Another main language, little or no English0.2%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 92% of UK towns.

Ethnicity & religion

A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 70% of UK towns: 94%

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

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White2.1%

Asian0.7%

Mixed2.3%

Black0.4%

Other0.1%

0%8%16%

White British, not charted: 94% of Delph · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion36%

Christian57%

Muslim0.6%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.7%

Other religion0.3%

Didn’t answer5%

0%35%70%

The share of residents with no religion trails 78% of UK towns: 36%. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Mixed or multiple (2.3%), Other White (2.1%) and Pakistani (0.4%).

Relationships & caring

Fewer adults who have never married than 77% of UK towns: 29%

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 partnership29%

Married or civil partnership48%

Separated2.2%

Divorced13%

Widowed8.7%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

208residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 9.5%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week5.5%

20 to 49 hours1.3%

50 hours or more2.7%

The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 59. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns.

Qualifications

Among adults, 42% hold a degree-level qualification

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications14%

Apprenticeship6.1%

A levels or similar17%

Degree level42%

DelphGreater Manchester’s townsEngland’s towns

Against 34% across England’s towns, 42% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 14% hold no qualification (18%).

Neighbours

Around Delph, 2 of 7 towns have a higher median age

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

DobcrossUppermillLeesShawMossleyNewheyOldhamDelph

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Delph	2,282	—	48.8	27%	25%
Dobcross	1,569	0.8 mi	51.5	25%	24%
Uppermill	11,207	1.9 mi	50.1	27%	25%
Lees	12,641	2.5 mi	44.4	22%	27%
Shaw	18,249	3.2 mi	45.5	23%	26%
Mossley	11,416	3.5 mi	41	17%	29%
Newhey	2,711	3.8 mi	43.3	19%	29%
Oldham	110,722	4 mi	31.6	10%	43%

More about Delph’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

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

How to read these numbers

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 Delph’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 Delph’s residents

What is the population of Delph?

The 2021 Census counted 2,282 people in Delph’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Delph?

The median age was 48.8 at the 2021 Census. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Delph?

94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 2.6% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Delph?

36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.

Is Delph good for families?

25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Delph’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.