Photo: Impudicus · CC BY-SA 4.0Simister sits below 97% of UK towns for residents with no religion (25%)
The median age in Simister is 48.8, higher than in nearly four fifths of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 1,054 residents in the village, living in 427 households. The census found that 12% of households have no car or van here. The figure for adults who have never married is 35% in Simister and 39% across England’s towns.
Simister: 22% of residents are 65 or over, above 53% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Here, 9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns, at 4.5%
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%.
In Simister, just over a third of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 5.4% of adults are full-time students, a higher share than in 73% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 11% of 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.
Fewer families than 59% of UK towns: 26% of households have children
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.
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 29% of households are one person living alone here. On average, 2.3 people share a household.
Fewer flats than 62% of UK towns: 8.7% of households
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 figure for households in terraced houses is 23% in Simister and 24% across England’s towns. By contrast, a fifth of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 72% of UK towns.
5.6% of residents were born outside the UK, below 58% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (2.9%), then in EU countries (2.3%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Simister comes in at 98%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 97% of UK towns: 62%
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: 88% of Simister · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 73% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British in Simister comes in at 88%. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. 2.6% of residents said their religion is Muslim.
Simister ranks below 55% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 47%
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
Some 22 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.1%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Simister’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 22% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Every neighbour of Simister has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simister | 1,054 | — | 48.8 | 22% | 26% |
| Rhodes | 2,970 | 1.1 mi | 39.5 | 15% | 26% |
| Whitefield | 22,193 | 1.4 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 30% |
| Prestwich | 31,509 | 1.7 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 32% |
| Middleton | 46,617 | 2.3 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 32% |
| Heywood | 29,724 | 3.1 mi | 38.7 | 17% | 31% |
| Radcliffe | 31,114 | 3.2 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 30% |
| Pendlebury | 1,768 | 3.2 mi | 32.2 | 2.5% | 43% |
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 Simister’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 Simister’s residents
What is the population of Simister?
The 2021 Census counted 1,054 people in Simister’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Simister?
The median age was 48.8 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Simister?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Simister?
25% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.6% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Simister good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Simister’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.