Parr Hall · Photo: Kevin Waterhouse · CC BY-SA 2.01.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, below 98% of UK towns
The figure for residents with no religion is 24% in Eccleston and 37% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 4,543 people lived here, in 1,973 households. The census found that nearly one in ten households have no car or van in the town. Lower than in 91% of UK towns: 25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
+7% since 2011: slower than 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Eccleston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,500 people in 2011; 4,800 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2016 to mid-2017, 120 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+40%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−7%).
Half of Eccleston is over 48.9, older than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 8.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across England’s towns is 12%. In Eccleston, 27% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Eccleston, 48.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 93% of UK towns, at 6.4%
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%.
Set against 7.9% across England’s towns, 5% of adults are full-time students in Eccleston. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Only 26% of households are one person living alone in Eccleston
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.
Households here average 2.3 people each. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are common here: 27%, more than in just over half of UK towns.
Few flats: only 2.5% of households in Eccleston live in one
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, nearly two in five households live in a detached house in Eccleston. For Eccleston, the census puts households in terraced houses at 13%. As a yardstick, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Eccleston sits below 99% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (2%)
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
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Eccleston comes in at 99%. The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%).
Eccleston sits above 97% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (97%)
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: 97% of Eccleston · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 70%, Eccleston is ahead of 99% of UK towns on that count. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 91% of UK towns: 56%
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
The share of unpaid carers tops 66% of UK towns: 10%. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 118.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Eccleston, 15%, while 35% hold one at degree level (34%).
226th oldest of 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Eccleston in age: Nailsworth (48.8), Lytchett Matravers (48.8), Shevington (48.9) and Farnsfield (48.9).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Eccleston
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Eccleston’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. Eccleston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,838 people in 2021, against 4,543 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 Eccleston’s residents
What is the population of Eccleston?
The 2021 Census counted 4,543 people in Eccleston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,800 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Eccleston?
The median age was 48.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 79% of UK towns. 8.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Eccleston?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Eccleston?
24% said they had no religion and 70% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Eccleston good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Eccleston’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. 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.