Photo: Malcolm Street · CC BY-SA 2.0Weir sits below 99% of UK towns for one-person households (18%)
Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment; in Weir, 1.2%. Locally, 7.4% of households have no car or van. The village has fewer residents aged 65 and over than 88% of UK towns, at 16%. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 1,290, in 480 households.
What the Census says about Weir’s people
A village of families
35% of Weir’s 480 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 93% of UK towns. 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: 10% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. With a median age of 44.1, Weir is younger than 53% of UK towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s 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.
6.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 88% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 37% of Weir’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 19%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 5.8% here. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A family village: 35% of households have dependent children
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 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Each household has 2.6 people on average. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 91% of UK towns, at 52%
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
Across Weir, 20% of households live in a terraced house. 1.2% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 52% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Below 90% of UK towns: 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
In Weir, 99% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
Above 75% of UK towns: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British
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 Weir · Lancashire’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Mixed or multiple (1.7%), Other White (1.5%) and Indian (0.5%). Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. More residents with no religion than in 62% of UK towns: 43%. Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Weir has 50%.
Married adults and civil partners make up 52% in Weir, more than in 76% 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
The share of adults who have never married is 34%, against 39% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 66% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Some 43 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 34% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 14% hold no qualification (18%).
Older than Weir: 2 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weir | 1,290 | — | 44.1 | 16% | 35% |
| Bacup | 13,559 | 1.9 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Rawtenstall | 23,683 | 3.7 mi | 42.7 | 19% | 29% |
| Todmorden | 12,971 | 4.1 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 26% |
| Whitworth | 6,713 | 4.6 mi | 45 | 20% | 27% |
| Burnley | 78,266 | 5.3 mi | 38.7 | 17% | 30% |
| Haslingden | 16,005 | 5.6 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 30% |
| Edenfield | 2,048 | 5.9 mi | 44.9 | 21% | 28% |
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 Weir’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 Weir’s residents
What is the population of Weir?
The 2021 Census counted 1,290 people in Weir’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Weir?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Weir?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Lancashire’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Weir?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Weir good for families?
35% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Weir’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.