Photo: Mike and Kirsty Grundy · CC BY-SA 2.0

49.9Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

0.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, below 99% of UK towns

Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 7.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. At the same time, on residents who describe themselves as White British, Chatburn sits higher than 97% of UK towns: 97%. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 1,125, in 500 households. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 52% here.

25%aged 65 or over 2.4%born abroad 500households

Ages

Half of Chatburn is over 49.9, older than 84% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

ChatburnEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

25% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1516%

15 to 247.6%

25 to 4420%

45 to 6431%

65 and over25%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

52% women, 48% men

Chatburn

England

WomenMen

About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.

Students & newcomers

A lower share of full-time students than 64% of UK towns, at 4.5%

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

Full-time students4.5%

Higher managerial and professional14%

Lower managerial and professional22%

Intermediate12%

Small employers and self-employed15%

Supervisory and technical7%

Semi-routine11%

Routine11%

Never worked or long-term unemployed3.3%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Chatburn

8.9%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

residents, 8.8%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

1.2× England’s share

Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Chatburn has 36% and 22%. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. 8.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.

Households

A higher share of one-person households than 85% of UK towns, at 35%

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 16%Living alone, under 66 19%Families with dependent children 25%Couples and families, no young children 39%Shared houses and other 0.8%

Against Lancashire’s towns and England’s towns

Chatburn

Lancashire’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person35%

2 people34%

3 people17%

4 people11%

5 or more4%

England’s towns.

29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, against 25% in Chatburn. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Each household has 2.2 people on average.

Homes & cars

Only 8.6% of households in Chatburn have no car or van

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Chatburn

Lancashire’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van8.6%

One49%

Two33%

Three or more9.2%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment; in Chatburn, 7.8%. Locally, 15% of households live in a detached house. Households without a car or van: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.

Where people were born

A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 97% of UK towns: 2.4%

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%

Chatburn

2.4%

Lancashire’s towns

10%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language100%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.3%

Another main language, little or no English0.1%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

100% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (1%) and in EU countries (0.6%).

Ethnicity & religion

No religion: 29% of residents, a lower share than 94% 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

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White0.7%

Asian1.2%

Mixed0.9%

Black0%

Other0.1%

0%7%14%

White British, not charted: 97% of Chatburn · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion29%

Christian61%

Muslim0.5%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.4%

Other religion0.2%

Didn’t answer8.4%

0%35%70%

Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 61%, above 96% of UK towns. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.

Relationships & caring

Only 28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Chatburn

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership28%

Married or civil partnership49%

Separated1.7%

Divorced12%

Widowed9.3%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

103residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 9.6%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week5.7%

20 to 49 hours1.2%

50 hours or more2.7%

Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; in Chatburn, 49%. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 29 people. One in ten residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 56% of UK towns.

Qualifications

Qualified to degree level: 37% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications13%

Apprenticeship7.1%

A levels or similar17%

Degree level37%

ChatburnLancashire’s townsEngland’s towns

Degree-level qualifications are held by 37% of adults in Chatburn (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 13% (England’s towns: 18%).

Neighbours

2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Chatburn

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

ClitheroeWaddingtonBarrowSabdenWhalleyFenceReadChatburn

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Chatburn	1,125	—	49.9	25%	25%
Clitheroe	16,626	2.3 mi	44	22%	26%
Waddington	1,005	2.5 mi	58.6	38%	17%
Barrow	1,388	4.2 mi	43.3	19%	30%
Sabden	1,582	4.2 mi	48.1	22%	24%
Whalley	3,411	5.4 mi	49.6	25%	26%
Fence	1,585	5.5 mi	50.6	30%	27%
Read	2,049	5.9 mi	48.1	25%	28%

More about Chatburn’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

Health A⁻Life expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commute BIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of living AOwners and renters, prices, rents and council tax Schools B⁺Every primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

“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 Chatburn’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 Chatburn’s residents

What is the population of Chatburn?

The 2021 Census counted 1,125 people in Chatburn’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Chatburn?

The median age was 49.9 at the 2021 Census. 7.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Chatburn?

97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 2.4% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Chatburn?

29% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 8.4% didn’t answer.

Is Chatburn good for families?

25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chatburn’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.