Photo: Robert Wade · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in terraced houses: 46%, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
With a median age of 40.3, Bacup is younger than nearly four fifths of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 13,559 people lived here, in 5,923 households. Across Bacup, 18% of households live in a detached house. Set against 44% across England’s towns, 40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here.
From 2011 to 2024, Bacup outgrew 67% of UK towns: +12%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bacup’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,100 people in 2011; 13,600 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2013 to mid-2014: 230. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+28%) and 16 to 29 least (±0%).
Bacup: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 72% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
People aged 65 and over make up 17% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.6% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bacup, 40.3. 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.
More students than 80% of UK towns: 5.7% of adults in Bacup
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 or semi-routine work; Bacup has 25% and 31%. 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 66% of UK towns. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bacup sits above 76% of UK towns for one-person households (33%)
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.
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Bacup, 30%. 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Only 8.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Bacup
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
Households without a car or van: 24%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. The benchmark for households in flats across England’s towns: 23%.
Bacup sits below 81% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.8%)
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
Set against 90% across England’s towns, 98% of residents have English as their main language in Bacup. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).
Residents with no religion make up 46% in Bacup, more than in 80% 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: 94% of Bacup · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
94% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%. Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. The Muslim share of residents is 1.1%. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Bacup sits lower than 68% of UK towns: 47%.
Adults who have never married: 40%, a higher share than 90% of UK towns
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 423. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. 9.5% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 55% of UK towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Bacup, 25%, and 22% have none, against 18%.
Of 406 UK towns its size (9,000 to 18,000 people), the 59th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Bacup in age: Pyle (40.2), Padiham (40.3), Irthlingborough (40.3) and Stotfold (40.3).
Bacup is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacup | 13,559 | — | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Weir | 1,290 | 1.9 mi | 44.1 | 16% | 35% |
| Whitworth | 6,713 | 2.8 mi | 45 | 20% | 27% |
| Rawtenstall | 23,683 | 3.3 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 29% |
| Todmorden | 12,971 | 4.2 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 26% |
| Wardle | 2,112 | 4.3 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 28% |
| Edenfield | 2,048 | 4.7 mi | 44.9 | 21% | 28% |
| Haslingden | 16,005 | 5.2 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 30% |
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 Bacup’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. Bacup’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,237 people in 2021, against 13,559 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 Bacup’s residents
What is the population of Bacup?
The 2021 Census counted 13,559 people in Bacup’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,600 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bacup?
The median age was 40.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bacup?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bacup?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Bacup good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bacup’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. 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.