Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0A town of terraces: 47% of households live in one
Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian; in Oswaldtwistle, 61%. In Oswaldtwistle, 11% of households live in a detached house. Unpaid carers are more common here than in just over four fifths of UK towns. The town had 10,810 residents and 4,859 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 45.3 (older than 56% of UK towns).
+2% since 2011: slower than 75% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oswaldtwistle’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,100 people in 2011; 12,400 in 2024.
Between mid-2021 and mid-2022 the population rose by 190, its biggest one-year gain. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+24%) and the 30 to 44 least (−4%).
Above 58% of UK towns: 23% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Oswaldtwistle is 45.3, higher than in 56% of UK towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.8% of residents. As a yardstick, 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+
■ Oswaldtwistle, 45.3. 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.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 64% of UK towns: 8.1%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Oswaldtwistle has 27% and 30%. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. On the census count, 4.7% of adults are full-time students.
In Oswaldtwistle, 33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 74% 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.
At 2.2 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. On top of that, households with dependent children are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. The benchmark for one-person households across England’s towns: 30%. The census found that 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Oswaldtwistle.
Oswaldtwistle: 22% of households have no car or van, above 81% 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
9.5% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). Across England’s towns, households without a car or van come to 24%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 3.3% in Oswaldtwistle, less than in 87% of UK towns
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 (1.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). On residents whose main language is English, Oswaldtwistle sits higher than 75% of UK towns: 99%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 12% (England’s towns: 21%).
Residents with no religion: 32%, a lower share than 90% 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: 94% of Oswaldtwistle · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
2.1% of residents said their religion is Muslim. Higher than in 71% of UK towns: 94% of residents describe themselves as White British. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married make up 36% in Oswaldtwistle, more than in 74% 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
367 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Lower than in 84% of UK towns: 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 26% 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 Oswaldtwistle, 21%, while 26% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 43 in Oswaldtwistle to 51 in Broadfield & Knuzden
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Broadfield & Knuzden is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Oswaldtwistle the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in Oswaldtwistle (27% of households).
Of 397 UK towns its size (8,000 to 15,000 people), the 158th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Oswaldtwistle in age: Meltham (45.2), Kingsteignton (45.2), New Mills (45.3) and Bolsover (45.3).
Median age: 1 of the 7 towns around Oswaldtwistle are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | — | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Church | 5,030 | 1.3 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Accrington | 34,897 | 1.5 mi | 36.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 1.8 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 2.4 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 3 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 3 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
| Hoddlesden | 1,218 | 3.5 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 23% |
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 Oswaldtwistle’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. Oswaldtwistle’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,751 people in 2021, against 10,810 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 Oswaldtwistle’s residents
What is the population of Oswaldtwistle?
The 2021 Census counted 10,810 people in Oswaldtwistle’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,400 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oswaldtwistle?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 56% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oswaldtwistle?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oswaldtwistle?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.1% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Oswaldtwistle good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Oswaldtwistle (27% of households). Schools are on Oswaldtwistle’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.