Photo: Raymond Knapman · CC BY-SA 2.0Accrington is younger than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 36.2
30% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 34,897 residents in Accrington, living in 13,860 households. For Accrington, the census puts households in terraced houses at 55%. Few places have as many households with dependent children: 33% here, more than in 88% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Accrington’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Accrington’s residents are under 36.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
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.
A +13% change since 2011: Accrington grew faster than 71% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Accrington’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 32,400 people in 2011; 36,600 in 2024.
By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+22%) and the 45 to 64 group least (+8%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 760 people.
Only 15% of residents are 65 or over in Accrington
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
13% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Accrington, 36.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.7% in Accrington, less than in 73% 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%.
There is little gap on full-time students: 7.8%, about the same as across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 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.
Larger households than 88% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Lancashire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 2.7% in Accrington. The census found that a third of households are one person living alone locally.
11% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 93% 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, Accrington has 9.9%. Set beside that, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
14% born outside the UK, more than in 85% 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
89% of residents have English as their main language; across England’s towns the figure is 90%. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (9.5%) and in EU countries (4.1%).
In Accrington, 26% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 97% 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: 65% of Accrington · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 27% of residents. 65% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 95% of UK towns. Set beside that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Accrington comes in at 40%.
Accrington sits below 84% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (42%)
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
There is little gap on adults who have never married: 39%, about the same as across England’s towns. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 1,040.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 23%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
25% of Accrington’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 23% have one at degree level (34%). For 16%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 30 in Accrington West to 43 in Accrington South East
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Accrington South East is the oldest area, with 20% aged 65 or over; Accrington West the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Accrington West (46% of households).
9th lowest median age among 203 UK towns of 24,000 to 47,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.3 in Hatfield to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Accrington in age: Didcot (35.8), Northfleet (36), Batley (36.2) and Eccles (36.8).
Every neighbour of Accrington has an older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accrington | 34,897 | — | 36.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Church | 5,030 | 0.8 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | 1.5 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 1.6 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 1.9 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 2.3 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 2.8 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Hapton | 2,240 | 2.9 mi | 42.7 | 18% | 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.
- “Lancashire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Lancashire (or England), summed the same way as Accrington’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. Accrington’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 34,559 people in 2021, against 34,897 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 Accrington’s residents
What is the population of Accrington?
The 2021 Census counted 34,897 people in Accrington’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 36,600 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Accrington?
The median age was 36.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Accrington?
65% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Accrington?
26% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 27% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Accrington good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Accrington West (46% of households). Schools are on Accrington’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.