Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Rufford is over 52.4, older than 93% of UK towns
Set against 37% across England’s towns, 24% of residents said they have no religion in Rufford. 59% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 97% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 1,562 residents and 661 households locally. Households in terraced houses: just over a tenth of the total.
What the Census says about Rufford’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Rufford’s residents are under 52.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
185 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 98% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Rufford: 28% of residents are 65 or over, above 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.8% of the total.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 74% of UK towns: 4.3%
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 take in just over two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 19% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 8.5% of the total.
Households with dependent children make up 23% in Rufford, less than in 84% 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.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Rufford, 27%. To put it in context, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Households here average 2.3 people each. Higher than in 54% of UK towns: 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households without a car or van: 7.7%, a lower share than 93% 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
By its share of households in flats (4.1%), Rufford is below 87% of UK towns. Typically, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. 44% of households live in a detached house.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 97% of UK towns, at 2.4%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
100% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (0.9%) and in Africa (0.7%).
Rufford ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 69%
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: 97% of Rufford · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 97%, against 73% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Mixed or multiple (1.3%), Other White (0.8%) and Indian (0.3%).
Unpaid carers: 12%, a higher share than 98% 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
60 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 40%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 40% of its adults qualified to degree level, Rufford compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 12% hold no qualification (18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Rufford, 1 are older
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
- “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 Rufford’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 Rufford’s residents
What is the population of Rufford?
The 2021 Census counted 1,562 people in Rufford’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Rufford?
The median age was 52.4 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rufford?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 2.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rufford?
24% said they had no religion and 69% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Rufford good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Rufford’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.