Photo: Margaret Clough · CC BY-SA 2.0Longton is older than 89% of UK towns: a median age of 50.9
Here 6.1% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. At the 2021 Census Longton was home to 10,912 people in 4,731 households. Across Longton, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British. 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a higher share than in 87% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Longton’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Longton’s residents are under 50.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Longton changed by +5% from 2011 to 2024, behind 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Longton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,900 people in 2011; 11,400 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2014 to mid-2015, 170 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+31%) and the 30 to 44 group least (−8%).
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 8.5% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: nearly a tenth of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Longton, 50.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.1% in Longton, less than in 83% 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%.
Full-time students: 4.9% here and 7.9% across England’s towns. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 91% 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.
Where 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, Longton has 25%. Locally, 27% of households are one person living alone. The usual figure: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Longton ranks below 88% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 8.8%
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
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Longton has 4%. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Census figures put households in detached houses at 42% in the town.
Only 3.1% of residents were born outside the UK in Longton
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 90% of UK towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 13% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
In Longton, 23% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 98% 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: 96% of Longton · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.4%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 99% of UK towns. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 26%, a lower share than 89% 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
Against a figure of 8.7% across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Longton comes in at 11%. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 311 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Longton’s adults: 35% with a degree-level qualification and 15% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Of 397 UK towns its size (8,000 to 15,000 people), the 34th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Longton in age: Wetherby (50.8), Poulton-le-Fylde (50.9), Neston (50.9) and Humberston and New Waltham (51.2).
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Longton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longton | 10,912 | — | 50.9 | 28% | 25% |
| Hutton | 2,140 | 1 mi | 50.4 | 27% | 27% |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 2.6 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Tarleton and Hesketh Bank | 8,756 | 3 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 26% |
| Clifton | 1,022 | 3.3 mi | 44.9 | 19% | 23% |
| Farington Moss | 2,692 | 3.3 mi | 42.2 | 17% | 32% |
| Wymott | 2,092 | 3.5 mi | 39.2 | 8.4% | 30% |
| Freckleton | 4,478 | 3.9 mi | 54.6 | 32% | 20% |
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 Longton’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. Longton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,226 people in 2021, against 10,912 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 Longton’s residents
What is the population of Longton?
The 2021 Census counted 10,912 people in Longton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,400 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Longton?
The median age was 50.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 89% of UK towns. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Longton?
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 Longton?
23% said they had no religion and 71% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Longton good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Longton’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.