Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.046% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 97% of UK towns
31% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. Burnley is home to 78,266 residents in 32,531 households, by the 2021 Census. Households in detached houses: 13% of the total. More one-person households than in nearly three quarters of UK towns: 33%.
What the Census says about Burnley’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Burnley’s residents are under 38.7 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 17% 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 +16% change since 2011: faster than 77% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Burnley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 71,400 people in 2011; 82,600 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 30 to 44 changed most (+24%) and 45 to 64 least (+5%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 1,770 people.
Burnley is younger than 87% of UK towns: a median age of 38.7
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
17% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 12%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Burnley, 38.7. 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.
Above 89% of UK towns: 6.6% of adults are full-time students
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%.
In Burnley, 23% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.4 people per household, more than in 73% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.1% here and 4.3% across England’s towns. On the census count, 30% of households have dependent children.
31% of households have no car or van, more than in 95% 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 one in ten households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 86% of UK towns, at 15%
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
Nearly a third of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Here, 89% of residents have English as their main language.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 90% of UK towns, at 74%
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: 74% of Burnley · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
There is little gap on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46%, about the same as across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Pakistani (13%), Other White (5.2%) and Bangladeshi (3.5%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 42% in Burnley, less than in 84% 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
2,253 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. On adults who have never married, Burnley sits higher than 85% of UK towns: 39%. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.4%, about the same as across England’s towns.
24% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 24% of its adults qualified to degree level, Burnley compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 25% hold no qualification (18%). The highest qualification of 16% is A levels, often students still at university.
From a median age of 30 in Central Burnley & Daneshouse to 56 in Cliviger, Worsthorne & Lane Bottom
The town’s 11 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Cliviger, Worsthorne & Lane Bottom is the oldest area, with 34% aged 65 or over; Central Burnley & Daneshouse the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in Central Burnley & Daneshouse (44% of households).
Of 88 UK towns its size (55,000 to 106,000 people), the 28th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Weymouth (50.2), the oldest. Nearest to Burnley in age: Bedford (38.4), Hemel Hempstead (38.5), Crewe (38.7) and Rochester (38.8).
Around Burnley, 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 78,266 | — | 38.7 | 17% | 30% |
| Brierfield | 10,723 | 1.9 mi | 35.8 | 16% | 37% |
| Padiham | 10,121 | 2.6 mi | 40.3 | 19% | 28% |
| Fence | 1,585 | 2.8 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 27% |
| Hapton | 2,240 | 3 mi | 42.7 | 18% | 29% |
| Nelson | 33,808 | 3.2 mi | 33.4 | 12% | 40% |
| Barrowford | 5,887 | 3.9 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 25% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 4.3 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
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 Burnley’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. Burnley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 78,213 people in 2021, against 78,266 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 Burnley’s residents
What is the population of Burnley?
The 2021 Census counted 78,266 people in Burnley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 82,600 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Burnley?
The median age was 38.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 87% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Burnley?
74% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Burnley?
31% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 17% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Burnley good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Central Burnley & Daneshouse (44% of households). Schools are on Burnley’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.