Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.059% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 99% of UK towns
One-person households make up 37%, against 30% across England’s towns. 10,121 residents in 4,615 households: that is Padiham at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 7.6% of households live in a detached house. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 36%, fewer than in 97% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 54% of UK towns grew faster than Padiham: +7%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Padiham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,400 people in 2011; 11,100 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2013: 140 more people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+31%) and the 16 to 29 least (−10%).
Padiham is younger than 79% of UK towns: a median age of 40.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
19% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). At the same time, on residents aged 15 to 24, Padiham sits higher than 66% of UK towns: 10%. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Padiham, 40.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Padiham sits above 79% of UK towns for full-time students (5.7%)
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 21% of Padiham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 35%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 80% 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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Padiham.
Padiham: 30% of households have no car or van, above 95% 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
Households in flats: 9.7% here and 23% across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van across England’s towns is 24%.
Fewer residents born abroad than 85% of UK towns: 3.4%
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
In Padiham, 99% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison.
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 81% 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: 95% of Padiham · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Pakistani (0.7%). At 54%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is higher than in just over three quarters of UK towns. The wider picture: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion make up 39%, against 37% across England’s towns.
In Padiham, 41% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 92% 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 carers make up 10% of residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns. For 353 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 22% of adults in Padiham, 34% across England’s towns; 25% have no qualification, against 18%.
67th lowest median age among 455 UK towns of 7,000 to 14,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Stoke Gifford (27.8) and the oldest Seaton (61). Nearest to Padiham in age: Kings Hill (40.1), Cotgrave (40.2), Bacup (40.3) and Irthlingborough (40.3).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Padiham
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 Padiham’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. Padiham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,867 people in 2021, against 10,121 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 Padiham’s residents
What is the population of Padiham?
The 2021 Census counted 10,121 people in Padiham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,100 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Padiham?
The median age was 40.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Padiham?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Padiham?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Padiham good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Padiham’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.