Brierfield Mills · Photo: Grzegorz Gniady · CC BY-SA 4.0Brierfield is younger than 95% of UK towns: a median age of 35.8
The average household has 2.9 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Brierfield was home to 10,723 people in 3,626 households. Households in terraced houses account for 40%. This Lancashire town has fewer households in flats than 92% of UK towns, at 3.1%.
What the Census says about Brierfield’s people
More born abroad than most towns
26% of residents were born outside the UK, against 10% across Lancashire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (21%) and in EU countries (4.4%). Where people were born ↓
A town of families
37% of Brierfield’s 3,626 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 96% of UK towns. 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A mix of backgrounds
62% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 99% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Pakistani (54%), Other White (2.4%) and Bangladeshi (2.2%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Brierfield’s residents are under 35.8 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 86% of UK towns: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13%, above 95% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brierfield, 35.8. 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.
7.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 79% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 22% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 25% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). 9.4% of adults are full-time students. Set beside that, 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.
Brierfield sits above 96% of UK towns for households with dependent children (37%)
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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Brierfield has fewer one-person households than nearly three quarters of UK towns, at 27%. Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 76% of UK towns, at 21%
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
The figure for households in detached houses is 24% in Brierfield and 21% across England’s towns. One household in 5 has no car or van.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 97% of UK towns, at 26%
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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 22%. The census found that 83% of residents have English as their main language in Brierfield. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Only 13% of residents said they have no religion in Brierfield
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: 38% of Brierfield · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Brierfield comes in at 26%. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. In Brierfield, 38% of residents describe themselves as White British.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 84% of UK towns: 54%
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 share of adults who have never married is 30%, against 39% across England’s towns. Some 305 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 9.5%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in 54% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%.
Among adults, 27% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Brierfield counts 27% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 28% have no qualification (18%). 15% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
Ranked by age, 9th youngest of 347 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Stoke Gifford is the youngest (27.8); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Brierfield in age: Bordon (35.3), Brockworth (35.6), Aveley (35.9) and Waltham Cross (36.4).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Brierfield
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Brierfield’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 Brierfield’s residents
What is the population of Brierfield?
The 2021 Census counted 10,723 people in Brierfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Brierfield?
The median age was 35.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 95% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brierfield?
38% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 26% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brierfield?
13% said they had no religion and 26% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 55% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Brierfield good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Brierfield’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.