Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 0.6% of households live in a flat or apartment in Pilling
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 67%, against 46% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 1,699 residents and 677 households in Pilling. Locally, 5.1% of households have no car or van. Higher than in 90% of UK towns: 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Pilling’s people
Many carers
209 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Pilling ranks below 92% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.1%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Pilling is 49.7, higher than in 83% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Residents aged 65 and over account for 27%. In Garstang, the oldest of Lancashire’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
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 full-time students than 66% of UK towns: 4.5%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns: 11%. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Below 98% of UK towns: 20% of households are one person living alone
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.
Here 2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Pilling has fewer households with dependent children than 53% of UK towns, at 27%. For comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.4 people on average.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 92% of UK towns, at 8.5%
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
46% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
1.4% born outside the UK, fewer than in 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.2%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. 100% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns.
In Pilling, 98% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 99% 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: 98% of Pilling · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 28% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Pilling sits above 99% of UK towns for unpaid carers (13%)
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
27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 8.7%. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 80 residents.
31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Pilling, 34% across England’s towns; 16% have no qualification, against 18%.
Nearby, 4 of 7 towns have older populations than Pilling
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilling | 1,699 | — | 49.7 | 27% | 27% |
| Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea | 4,679 | 2.7 mi | 57.9 | 38% | 17% |
| Stalmine | 1,193 | 2.7 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 25% |
| Hambleton | 2,428 | 4.1 mi | 51.8 | 32% | 23% |
| Fleetwood | 26,224 | 5 mi | 44.4 | 23% | 26% |
| Thornton | 19,263 | 5.3 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 25% |
| Great Eccleston | 2,073 | 5.3 mi | 52.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Garstang | 5,804 | 5.4 mi | 58.2 | 39% | 16% |
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 Pilling’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 Pilling’s residents
What is the population of Pilling?
The 2021 Census counted 1,699 people in Pilling’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Pilling?
The median age was 49.7 at the 2021 Census. 8.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pilling?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 1.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pilling?
28% said they had no religion and 67% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Pilling good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Pilling’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.