Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 95% of UK towns: half of Blackburn is under 35.5
With households in detached houses at 15%, Blackburn is behind 85% of UK towns on that count. Here, 17% of residents said they have no religion. Two in five households live in a terraced house, a higher share than in 94% of UK towns. Its 45,430 households held 124,958 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Blackburn’s people
A city of families
37% of Blackburn’s 45,430 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 96% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A mix of backgrounds
51% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 98% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Pakistani (21%), Indian (19%) and Other White (3.7%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Blackburn’s residents are under 35.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 14% are 15 to 24 and 14% 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 +11% change since 2011: Blackburn grew faster than 65% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Blackburn’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 120,200 people in 2011; 133,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2023 to mid-2024: 2,730. Change by age ran from +18% for the 65 and over to +9% for the 16 to 29.
Residents aged 65 and over: 14%, a lower share than 93% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Blackburn. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Blackburn, 35.5. 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.
A higher share of full-time students than 96% of UK towns, at 9.2%
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%.
11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 7.7% in Blackburn. For comparison, 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.
Families with children: 37% of households, more than in 96% of UK towns
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.
In Blackburn, 2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns. On one-person households, Blackburn sits lower than 63% of UK towns: 29%. Average household size: 2.7 people.
27% of households have no car or van, more than in 91% 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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 12% in Blackburn. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
21% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 94% 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
Here 85% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (14%), then in EU countries (4.4%).
A lower White British share than 98% of UK towns: 49% of residents
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: 49% of Blackburn · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Pakistani (21%), Indian (19%) and Other White (3.7%). At 34%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 98% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%.
37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 79% 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
Where 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, Blackburn has 47%. By way of comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 3,485 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 9%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 60% of UK towns.
26% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Blackburn, 26% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 25% have no qualification at all (18%). Many of the 15% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
From a median age of 31 in Little Harwood to 51 in Wilpshire & Mellor
The city’s 15 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Wilpshire & Mellor is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Little Harwood the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in Little Harwood (50% of households).
Ranked by age, 9th youngest of 57 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Southport the oldest (48.4). Nearest to Blackburn in age: Bath (35.2), Slough (35.3), Colchester (35.9) and York (36).
Blackburn 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn | 124,958 | — | 35.5 | 14% | 37% |
| Myerscough Smithy | 2,409 | 2.7 mi | 54.7 | 33% | 20% |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 3.3 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Darwen | 27,897 | 3.5 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 27% |
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | 3.6 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Hoddlesden | 1,218 | 4.2 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 23% |
| Langho | 1,723 | 4.2 mi | 52.1 | 31% | 23% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 4.4 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 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.
- “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 Blackburn’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. Blackburn’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 126,888 people in 2021, against 124,958 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 Blackburn’s residents
What is the population of Blackburn?
The 2021 Census counted 124,958 people in Blackburn’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 133,700 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Blackburn?
The median age was 35.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 95% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blackburn?
49% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blackburn?
17% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 42% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Blackburn good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Little Harwood (50% of households). Schools are on Blackburn’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.