Photo: Helen Steed · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Brigg is over 50, older than 84% of UK towns
At 2.2 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 5,637 residents in 2,547 households. On the census count, 23% of households have dependent children. Few places have as many households without a car or van: 21% here, more than in 78% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Brigg’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Brigg at 5,400 in 2011 and 5,300 in 2024, down 1%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 88% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Brigg changed by −1% from 2011 to 2024, behind 88% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brigg’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,400 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+33%) and the 16 to 29 least (−18%).
Residents aged 65 and over: 27%, a higher share than 83% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 8% of residents. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. At 8.8%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 79% of UK towns. In Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe, the oldest of Lincolnshire’s towns by this measure, it is 49%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brigg, 50. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
A lower share of full-time students than 80% of UK towns, at 4.1%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Brigg, 27% and 32%. Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
More people live alone than in 79% of UK towns: 34% of households
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Lincolnshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.4%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Brigg sits above 69% of UK towns for households in detached houses (36%)
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 England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Brigg has 10%. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. Households in terraced houses account for 20%.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 72% of UK towns: 4.4%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language; in Brigg, 98%. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
In Brigg, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 76% 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 Brigg · Lincolnshire’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British tops 73% of UK towns: 95%. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. In Brigg, nearly two in five residents said they have no religion.
31% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 59% 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
44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 46% in Brigg. For adults who have never married, the comparison across England’s towns is 39%. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 173.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
24% of Brigg’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 24% have none (18%).
Of 624 UK towns its size (4,000 to 8,000 people), the 122nd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Brigg in age: East Horsley (49.9), Denmead (49.9), Culcheth (50) and Hoylake (50).
Older than Brigg: 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigg | 5,637 | — | 50 | 27% | 23% |
| Wrawby | 1,194 | 1.3 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 29% |
| Scawby | 1,606 | 2.7 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 19% |
| Broughton | 4,499 | 2.9 mi | 49.7 | 25% | 24% |
| Hibaldstow | 2,022 | 3.5 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 25% |
| Barnetby le Wold | 1,841 | 3.6 mi | 44.9 | 21% | 28% |
| Kirton in Lindsey | 3,066 | 7.1 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Scunthorpe | 81,286 | 7.1 mi | 39.5 | 18% | 29% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Lincolnshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Lincolnshire (or England), summed the same way as Brigg’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. Brigg’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,389 people in 2021, against 5,637 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 Brigg’s residents
What is the population of Brigg?
The 2021 Census counted 5,637 people in Brigg’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Brigg?
The median age was 50 at the 2021 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brigg?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Lincolnshire’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brigg?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Brigg good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Brigg’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.