Photo: The wub · CC BY-SA 4.0A higher share of one-person households than 93% of UK towns, at 37%
In Morecambe, nearly a quarter of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. The town had 32,745 residents and 14,955 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 45.9 (older than just over three fifths of UK towns). Locally, 27% of households have no car or van. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in 87% of UK towns.
Morecambe changed by +1% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 82% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Morecambe’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 33,800 people in 2011; 34,000 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+11%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−7%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2020 to mid-2021: 310 people.
More residents aged 65 and over than 69% of UK towns: 25%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.2% of residents. On residents aged 15 to 24, Morecambe sits higher than 73% of UK towns: 10%. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Morecambe, 45.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 65% of UK towns, at 8%
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 account for a quarter of Morecambe’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 32%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. In Morecambe, 5% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 85% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.9%, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Only 11% of households live in a detached house in Morecambe
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 23% across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment in Morecambe. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 20%.
Only 96% of residents have English as their main language in Morecambe
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (4.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). The usual figure: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The figure for residents born outside the UK is 7% in Morecambe and 18% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 78% of UK towns, at 55%
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: 92% of Morecambe · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (4.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and African (0.3%). The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns is 46%. Morecambe has fewer residents with no religion than 71% of UK towns, at 37%. 92% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%.
Unpaid carers: 11%, a higher share than 86% 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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 1,171 people. Higher than in two thirds of UK towns: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Against that, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 24% of adults in Morecambe, 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 35 in Morecambe West End to 59 in Bare
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bare is the oldest area, with 41% aged 65 or over; Morecambe West End the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Morecambe South West (31% of households).
Among 208 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, the 33rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Morecambe in age: Locks Heath (45.8), Shoreham-by-Sea (45.8), Orrell (45.9) and Brighouse (46.1).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Morecambe
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 Morecambe’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. Morecambe’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,606 people in 2021, against 32,745 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 Morecambe’s residents
What is the population of Morecambe?
The 2021 Census counted 32,745 people in Morecambe’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 34,000 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Morecambe?
The median age was 45.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Morecambe?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Morecambe?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Morecambe good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Morecambe South West (31% of households). Schools are on Morecambe’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.