Canal Warehouse · Photo: robert wade · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 89% of UK towns: half of Church is under 37.9
Terraced houses are home to 49% of households, against 24% across England’s towns. Here, 30% of households have no car or van. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 96% of UK towns: 37%. 5,030 residents in 2,157 households: that is Church at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Church’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Church’s residents are under 37.9 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).
Church ranks below 87% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 13% here, more than in 94% of UK towns. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Church, 37.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.8%, a higher share than 90% 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%.
By class, 22% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 35% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Church ranks above 79% of UK towns on one-person households: 34%
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.
The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Households with dependent children account for 31%. By way of comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Below 87% of UK towns: 14% of households live in a detached house
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
Here, 11% of households live in a flat or apartment. Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house.
94% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 81% 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
Since 2017: 17% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. Across Church, 7.8% of residents were born outside the UK. Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Fewer residents with no religion than 87% of UK towns: 33%
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: 86% of Church · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (5.3%), Pakistani (5.2%) and Mixed or multiple (1.5%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 86%, fewer than in 77% of UK towns. 53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
43% of adults have never married, more than in 94% 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
Students and young renters account for much of that. Locally, 9.8% of residents give unpaid care.
Qualified to degree level: 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 22% of its adults qualified to degree level, Church compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 24% hold no qualification (18%). Many still at university: 18% list A levels as their highest qualification.
From a median age of 37 in Oswaldtwistle to 39 in Clayton-le-Moors & Huncoat
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Clayton-le-Moors & Huncoat is the oldest area, with 15% aged 65 or over; Oswaldtwistle the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Clayton-le-Moors & Huncoat (36% of households).
48th lowest median age among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Church in age: Abertridwr and Senghenydd (37.6), Aberbargoed (37.8), Tangmere (37.9) and Denaby Main (38.1).
Church sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church | 5,030 | — | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Accrington | 34,897 | 0.8 mi | 36.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 1.3 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | 1.3 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 1.5 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 1.8 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 2.1 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Hapton | 2,240 | 3.1 mi | 42.7 | 18% | 29% |
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 Church’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 Church’s residents
What is the population of Church?
The 2021 Census counted 5,030 people in Church’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Church?
The median age was 37.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Church?
86% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Church?
33% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 6.7% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Church good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Clayton-le-Moors & Huncoat (36% of households). Schools are on Church’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) · 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.