Photo: Ann Cook · CC BY-SA 2.0In Chorley, 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 93% of UK towns
Households in terraced houses: 33%, above 87% of UK towns. Here, just over a fifth of households have no car or van. One-person households are more common here than in 74% of UK towns. Chorley had 39,539 residents in 17,547 households at the 2021 Census.
A +11% change since 2011: Chorley grew faster than 65% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chorley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 37,400 people in 2011; 41,600 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +30% for the 65 and over to −9% for the 16 to 29. The biggest one-year rise was mid-2023 to mid-2024, 700 people.
Half of Chorley is under 42.2, younger than 68% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.9% in Chorley and 12% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 20% locally.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chorley, 42.2. 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 63% of UK towns, at 8.1%
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%.
By class, 31% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For Chorley, the census puts full-time students at 4.8%. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Smaller households than 65% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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 Chorley, 28% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; locally, 2.2%.
Households in flats: 14%, a higher share than 64% 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
On households in detached houses, 21% here is much the same as across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents whose main language is English than 65% of UK towns: 97%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (3.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns. Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 19%.
32% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 90% 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: 91% of Chorley · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Chorley has 91%. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The Muslim share of residents is 2.5%.
37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 76% 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
Married people and civil partners make up 43% of adults, against 44% across England’s towns. Typically, 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 1,127 people.
A degree-level qualification for 29% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 29% of adults in Chorley, 34% across England’s towns; 19% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 39 in Chorley East to 50 in Chorley West
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Chorley West is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Chorley East the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Chorley South West (32% of households).
78th oldest of 179 UK towns of 28,000 to 53,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Chorley in age: Cwmbrân (42.1), Caerphilly (42.1), Chichester (42.2) and Rushden (42.3).
Chorley is younger than 6 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chorley | 39,539 | — | 42.2 | 20% | 28% |
| Charnock Richard | 1,098 | 1.8 mi | 52.9 | 31% | 21% |
| Euxton | 17,519 | 2.3 mi | 37.9 | 15% | 35% |
| Coppull | 8,303 | 2.3 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 28% |
| Whittle-le-Woods | 4,388 | 2.4 mi | 45.1 | 17% | 31% |
| Adlington | 8,777 | 2.7 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 26% |
| Brinscall | 1,332 | 3.6 mi | 49.3 | 26% | 25% |
| Eccleston | 4,543 | 3.8 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
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 Chorley’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. Chorley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 40,353 people in 2021, against 39,539 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 Chorley’s residents
What is the population of Chorley?
The 2021 Census counted 39,539 people in Chorley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 41,600 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chorley?
The median age was 42.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 68% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chorley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 6.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chorley?
32% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Chorley good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Chorley South West (32% of households). Schools are on Chorley’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.