Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0Higham is older than 91% of UK towns: a median age of 51.8
Against a figure of 29% across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children in Higham comes in at 21%. Its 372 households held 845 residents at the 2021 Census. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 69% of the total. Compared with other places, households without a car or van are scarce here: 7.8%, fewer than in 92% of UK towns.
Fewer young people than 91% of UK towns: 8.2% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 28%, against 18% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
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.
2.4% of adults are full-time students, below 99% 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%.
Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 8% in Higham. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Fewer one-person households than 90% of UK towns: 24%
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 Higham the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. The census found that 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in the village. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%.
Higham: 35% of households live in a terraced house, above 90% 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
By its share of households in flats (3.5%), Higham is below 90% of UK towns. Higher than in 82% of UK towns: 43% of households live in a detached house. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 90% of UK towns: 3.1%
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%) and in EU countries (0.8%). More residents whose main language is English than in 84% of UK towns: 99%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%.
Higham ranks below 98% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 25%
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: 96% of Higham · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 1.2% of residents. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Higham has more residents who describe themselves as White British than just over four fifths of UK towns, at 96%.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 97% of UK towns: 59%
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
With adults who have never married at 25%, Higham is behind 93% of UK towns on that count. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 96% of UK towns. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 44% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 10% hold no qualification (18%).
Every neighbour of Higham has a younger population
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
- “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 Higham’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 Higham’s residents
What is the population of Higham?
The 2021 Census counted 845 people in Higham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Higham?
The median age was 51.8 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Higham?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Higham?
25% said they had no religion and 69% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 4% didn’t answer.
Is Higham good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Higham’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.