Photo: Ian Greig · CC BY-SA 2.0Tyldesley: 61% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 95% of UK towns
The median age in Tyldesley is 42.1, lower than in 68% of UK towns. The town’s 6,934 households held 16,205 residents at the 2021 Census. The census found that 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership locally. Nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 7.5% here.
From 2011 to 2024, Tyldesley outgrew 72% of UK towns: +13%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Tyldesley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,100 people in 2011; 18,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+57%) and the 16 to 29 least (−8%). Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 610 people.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 18% in Tyldesley, less than in 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.8% of residents. In High Lane, the oldest of Greater Manchester’s towns by this measure, it is 37%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Tyldesley, 42.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 64% of UK towns: 8.1%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 35% of Tyldesley’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 22%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Full-time students: 4.8% of the total. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across England’s towns.
Below 69% of UK towns: 28% of households are one person living alone
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.
The figure for households with dependent children is 30% in Tyldesley and 29% across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.1% in the town.
Above 63% of UK towns: 23% of households live in a terraced house
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
7.5% of households live in a flat, less than in 69% of UK towns; 28% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 15% of the total.
97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 62% 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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 17% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). For comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 32%, a lower share than 89% 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: 91% of Tyldesley · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 91%, below three fifths of UK towns. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and African (1.3%).
48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 50% of UK towns don’t reach
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
For Tyldesley, the census puts unpaid carers at 9.4%. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 31% of adults in Tyldesley (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 36 in Astley, Blackmoor & Mosley Common to 46 in Atherton South East & Tyldesley West
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Atherton South East & Tyldesley West is the oldest area, with 20% aged 65 or over; Astley, Blackmoor & Mosley Common the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Astley, Blackmoor & Mosley Common (37% of households).
114th lowest median age among 380 UK towns of 11,000 to 22,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Tyldesley in age: Camborne (42), Spennymoor (42.1), Redruth (42.2) and Milford Haven (42.2).
Tyldesley and its 7 nearest towns: 2 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyldesley | 16,205 | — | 42.1 | 18% | 30% |
| Astley | 4,735 | 0.7 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Higher Folds | 2,447 | 1.2 mi | 36.1 | 13% | 35% |
| Atherton | 27,571 | 1.8 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Worsley | 11,958 | 2 mi | 44.5 | 23% | 30% |
| Little Hulton | 25,824 | 2.1 mi | 34.7 | 14% | 35% |
| Walkden | 18,684 | 2.3 mi | 39.5 | 18% | 29% |
| Leigh | 45,499 | 2.9 mi | 40.8 | 18% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Tyldesley’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. Tyldesley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,776 people in 2021, against 16,205 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 Tyldesley’s residents
What is the population of Tyldesley?
The 2021 Census counted 16,205 people in Tyldesley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,200 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Tyldesley?
The median age was 42.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 68% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Tyldesley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 6.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tyldesley?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Tyldesley good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Astley, Blackmoor & Mosley Common (37% of households). Schools are on Tyldesley’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.