Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0Read sits below 97% of UK towns for households without a car or van (6.4%)
55% of households live in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns. Few places have as many married adults and civil partners: 57% here, more than in 93% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 2,049 residents in Read, living in 871 households. The census found that 68% of residents describe themselves as Christian locally.
A median age of 48.1: Read is older than 75% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (11%), Read is above nearly three quarters of UK towns. At 25%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in three quarters of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Read: 5.1% of adults are full-time students, above 63% 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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 8.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Read. Across England’s towns, 7.9% 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.
Only 25% of households are one person living alone in Read
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.
Households in Read hold 2.4 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Across Read, 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. The village has more households with dependent children than 55% of UK towns, at 28%.
Only 2.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Read
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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 31% of households live in a terraced house here. By way of comparison, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Above 96% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.3%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). Read has fewer residents born outside the UK than 84% of UK towns, at 3.5%. To put it in context, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
26% said they have no religion, fewer than in 97% 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 Read · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Read, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.5%).
Below 84% of UK towns: 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
38 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Read has fewer unpaid carers than three quarters of UK towns, at 8.4%. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%.
Among adults, 44% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Read, 44%, and 9.1% have none, against 18%.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Read
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read | 2,049 | — | 48.1 | 25% | 28% |
| Padiham | 10,121 | 1.8 mi | 40.3 | 19% | 28% |
| Sabden | 1,582 | 1.8 mi | 48.1 | 22% | 24% |
| Hapton | 2,240 | 2.4 mi | 42.7 | 18% | 29% |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 2.5 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 2.6 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 2.7 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Whalley | 3,411 | 2.8 mi | 49.6 | 25% | 26% |
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 Read’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 Read’s residents
What is the population of Read?
The 2021 Census counted 2,049 people in Read’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Read?
The median age was 48.1 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Read?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Read?
26% said they had no religion and 68% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 3.8% didn’t answer.
Is Read good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Read’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.