Photo: Roger May · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in terraced houses make up 46% in Wingates, more than in 97% of UK towns
Married adults and civil partners make up 41%, against 44% across England’s towns. 1,936 residents in 845 households: that is Wingates at the 2021 Census. Residents with no religion account for 33%. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 16%, fewer than in 85% of UK towns.
Wingates is younger than 72% of UK towns: a median age of 41.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. 50–54 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents.
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.
A larger share of full-time students than 85% of UK towns: 6.1%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Wingates, 31% and 28%. 7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 74% of UK towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More one-person households than 73% of UK towns: 33%
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.
Against a figure of 29% across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children in Wingates comes in at 30%. Average household size: 2.3 people.
In Wingates, 18% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 79% of UK towns
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Wingates has 8.3%. The comparison figure for households in detached houses is 21% across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly a fifth of households have no car or van.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 62% of UK towns, at 5.2%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). At 97%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 62% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 16% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
Wingates sits above 92% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (59%)
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 Wingates · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (3%), Indian (1.9%) and Mixed or multiple (1.6%). On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Wingates has 91%.
Wingates ranks above 79% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 37%
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 56. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.6%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns.
Among adults, 27% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Wingates’s adults: 27% with a degree-level qualification and 21% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns. A levels top the qualifications of 17%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
Around Wingates, 6 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingates | 1,936 | — | 41.5 | 16% | 30% |
| Westhoughton | 21,969 | 0.9 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 29% |
| Hunger Hill | 1,299 | 1.5 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 27% |
| Aspull | 4,937 | 2.4 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 26% |
| Hindley | 24,485 | 2.4 mi | 44 | 21% | 27% |
| Horwich | 20,703 | 2.6 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 27% |
| Atherton | 27,571 | 2.6 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Blackrod | 5,340 | 3.2 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 26% |
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 Wingates’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 Wingates’s residents
What is the population of Wingates?
The 2021 Census counted 1,936 people in Wingates’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wingates?
The median age was 41.5 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wingates?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 5.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wingates?
33% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Wingates good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wingates’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.