Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.042% of households have no car or van, more than in 99% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Bootle has 28%. This Merseyside town counted 53,722 residents and 23,710 households at the 2021 Census. 36% of households are one person living alone. More households in terraced houses than in 96% of UK towns: 43%.
What the Census says about Bootle’s people
Many carers
5,727 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 91% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
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.
Bootle’s population changed by +10% since 2011, more than in 60% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bootle’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 52,200 people in 2011; 57,200 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 group saw the biggest change (+30%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−6%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 980 more people.
Bootle is younger than 84% of UK towns: a median age of 39.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%; Bootle has 11%. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 86% of UK towns: 16%. 55–59 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bootle, 39.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 78% of UK towns, at 7.4%
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%.
The share of full-time students tops 84% of UK towns: 6%. Across England’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More shared households of unrelated adults than 79% of UK towns: 3.1%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Merseyside’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Bootle. The wider picture: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
Fewer households in detached houses than 98% of UK towns: 6.5%
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
Against a figure of 23% across England’s towns, the share of households in flats in Bootle comes in at 18%. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 81% of UK towns: 95%
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 newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are just over a third of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Across Bootle, 7.8% of residents were born outside the UK. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns.
65% describe themselves as Christian, more than in 98% 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: 90% of Bootle · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British in Bootle. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (4.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.6%).
33% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 99% 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
2,141 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Higher than in 98% of UK towns: 48% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers: 11%, above 91% of UK towns.
Among adults, 20% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 20% of its adults qualified to degree level, Bootle compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 28% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 37 in Bootle North to 43 in Aintree West & Old Roan
The town’s 10 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Aintree West & Old Roan is the oldest area, with 17% aged 65 or over; Bootle North the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Orrell (32% of households).
Of 123 UK towns its size (38,000 to 73,000 people), the 40th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Canterbury (27.5) and the oldest Lytham St Anne's (54.4). Nearest to Bootle in age: Willenhall (39.2), Eastleigh (39.2), King's Lynn (39.3) and Leighton Buzzard (39.4).
Of the 7 towns nearest Bootle, 5 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
- 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.
- “Merseyside’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Merseyside (or England), summed the same way as Bootle’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. Bootle’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 55,178 people in 2021, against 53,722 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 Bootle’s residents
What is the population of Bootle?
The 2021 Census counted 53,722 people in Bootle’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 57,200 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bootle?
The median age was 39.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 84% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bootle?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bootle?
28% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Bootle good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Orrell (32% of households). Schools are on Bootle’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.