Photo: John Slater · CC BY-SA 2.051% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 98% of UK towns
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 62%, above 96% of UK towns. Compared with other places, households in flats are scarce here: 5.4%, fewer than in 81% of UK towns. Rishton had 6,653 residents and 2,994 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 42.7 (younger than 64% of UK towns). The share of married adults and civil partners stands at 41%.
A +6% change since 2011: slower than 57% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Rishton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,600 people in 2011; 7,000 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+17%) and weakest among the 45 to 64 (±0%). Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 190, its biggest one-year gain.
Rishton is younger than 64% of UK towns: a median age of 42.7
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 20% here and 18% across England’s towns. Across Rishton, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Rishton, 42.7. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
5.6% of adults are full-time students, more than in 76% 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%.
27% of Rishton’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 29% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are rarer here than in 55% of UK towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A higher share of one-person households than 77% of UK towns, at 33%
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 average 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Locally, 26% of households have dependent children. At 2.1%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in 62% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Below 91% of UK towns: 12% of households live in a detached house
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
Here 23% of households have no car or van, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Below 73% of UK towns: 4.3% of residents were born outside the UK
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Rishton has more residents whose main language is English than 60% of UK towns, at 98%. Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 19%.
Only 31% of residents said they have no religion in Rishton
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 Rishton · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 1.7%. Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 70% of UK towns.
11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 80% 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
For 210 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Typically, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Rishton has more adults who have never married than 86% of UK towns, at 39%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 27%
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 Rishton, 20%, while 27% hold one at degree level (34%).
Ranked by age, 132nd youngest of 473 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Red Lodge (30.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Rishton in age: Long Ashton (42.6), Murton (42.7), Thrybergh and Dalton (42.7) and Market Warsop (42.7).
Median age: 2 of the 7 towns around Rishton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rishton | 6,653 | — | 42.7 | 20% | 26% |
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | 1.3 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 26% |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 1.5 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Church | 5,030 | 1.5 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Oswaldtwistle | 10,810 | 1.8 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Accrington | 34,897 | 2.3 mi | 36.2 | 15% | 33% |
| Langho | 1,723 | 2.8 mi | 52.1 | 31% | 23% |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 3 mi | 41 | 16% | 33% |
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 Rishton’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. Rishton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,653 people in 2021, against 6,653 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 Rishton’s residents
What is the population of Rishton?
The 2021 Census counted 6,653 people in Rishton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,000 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Rishton?
The median age was 42.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 64% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rishton?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rishton?
31% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Rishton good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Rishton’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.