Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Darwen ranks above 98% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 53%
Where just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, Darwen has 12%. The town counted 27,897 residents and 12,577 households at the 2021 Census. 38% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. With a median age of 40.6, Darwen is younger than 77% of UK towns.
Darwen’s population moved +5% on 2011, less than in 63% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Darwen’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 28,000 people in 2011; 29,300 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+25%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−4%). Between mid-2023 and mid-2024 the population rose by 610, its biggest one-year gain.
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 87% of UK towns: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.5% of residents. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Darwen has fewer residents aged 65 and over than just over three quarters of UK towns, at 18%. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Darwen, 40.6. 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.
Above 83% of UK towns: 5.9% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in just over a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 29% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The census found that one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Darwen. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Darwen ranks above 90% of UK towns on one-person households: 36%
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.
Compared with 29% across England’s towns, 27% of households have dependent children here. By way of comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Across Darwen, 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More households without a car or van than 91% of UK towns: 27%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Darwen has 12%. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.9%), then in the Middle East and Asia (2.3%). As a yardstick, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up a fifth of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
Darwen: 52% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 67% 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: 90% of Darwen · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion are about as common here as across England’s towns: 37%. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as Christian come to 46%. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British stands at 90%.
Darwen sits above 92% of UK towns for adults who have never married (41%)
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. 910 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Unpaid carers are more common here than in two thirds of UK towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Darwen’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 36 in East Darwen to 44 in South Darwen & Whitehall
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
South Darwen & Whitehall is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; East Darwen the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in East Darwen (30% of households).
67th youngest of 238 UK towns of 20,000 to 38,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Darwen in age: Hertford (40.5), Sunbury-on-Thames (40.5), Droylsden (40.7) and Spalding (40.7).
5 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Darwen
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwen | 27,897 | — | 40.6 | 18% | 27% |
| Hoddlesden | 1,218 | 1.4 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 23% |
| Blackburn | 124,958 | 3.5 mi | 35.5 | 14% | 37% |
| Brinscall | 1,332 | 4.2 mi | 49.3 | 26% | 25% |
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | 4.2 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Edgworth | 1,649 | 4.6 mi | 52.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 5.3 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Church | 5,030 | 5.5 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
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 Darwen’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. Darwen’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 28,121 people in 2021, against 27,897 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 Darwen’s residents
What is the population of Darwen?
The 2021 Census counted 27,897 people in Darwen’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 29,300 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Darwen?
The median age was 40.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 77% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Darwen?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 6.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Darwen?
37% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4.7% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Darwen good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in East Darwen (30% of households). Schools are on Darwen’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.