Photo: Brian Young · CC BY 3.0A smaller share of households without a car or van than 94% of UK towns: 7.4%
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 65%, Clifton is ahead of 98% of UK towns on that count. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 23% here, fewer than in 85% of UK towns. The village is home to 1,022 residents in 447 households, by the 2021 Census. For Clifton, the census puts households in flats at 4.5%.
What the Census says about Clifton’s people
Many carers
111 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Below 72% of UK towns: 19% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 44.9, Clifton is older than 53% of UK towns. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Here, 9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Above 95% of UK towns: 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Clifton has 40% and 21%. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. For Clifton, the census puts full-time students at 5.1%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Clifton households average 2.3 people, larger than in 56% 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.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 29% of households are one person living alone in Clifton. Here, 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More households in detached houses than 74% of UK towns: 39%
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 share of households in terraced houses stands at 21%.
3.2% of residents were born outside the UK, below 88% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Here 99% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 96% of UK towns: 28%
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: 95% of Clifton · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Clifton has 95%. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and African (0.6%).
11% of residents give unpaid care, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 28 people. To put it in context, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 66% of UK towns. The share of adults who have never married is 34%, against 39% across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Clifton, 35%, and 13% have none, against 18%.
Older than Clifton: 4 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton | 1,022 | — | 44.9 | 19% | 23% |
| Newton-with-Scales | 1,510 | 1.1 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 26% |
| Cottam | 5,507 | 2.5 mi | 35.3 | 9.3% | 37% |
| Freckleton | 4,478 | 2.5 mi | 54.6 | 32% | 20% |
| Kirkham | 8,939 | 2.8 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 26% |
| Hutton | 2,140 | 3.2 mi | 50.4 | 27% | 27% |
| Longton | 10,912 | 3.3 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 25% |
| Wesham | 4,474 | 3.4 mi | 40 | 15% | 32% |
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 Clifton’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 Clifton’s residents
What is the population of Clifton?
The 2021 Census counted 1,022 people in Clifton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Clifton?
The median age was 44.9 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Clifton?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Clifton?
28% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Clifton good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Clifton’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.