Photo: Tony Grist · Public domainHouseholds in detached houses: 10%, a lower share than 94% of UK towns
Christians make up 66% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. On one-person households, Crosby sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 34%. The town’s 22,136 households held 50,218 residents at the 2021 Census. In Crosby, just over a quarter of households have no car or van.
+3% since 2011: slower than 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Crosby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 50,300 people in 2011; 51,700 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+27%) and the 16 to 29 least (−16%). No year added more people than mid-2017 to mid-2018: 460.
A median age of 45.7: Crosby is older than 59% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 9.5% in Crosby. Here, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Crosby, 45.7. 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.
7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 84% 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 36% of Crosby’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 21%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across England’s towns is 11%. In Crosby, 5.7% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer family households than 71% of UK towns: 25% in Crosby
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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Crosby, 2.2. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.6%.
Above 88% of UK towns: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
The figure for households in terraced houses is 22% in Crosby and 24% across England’s towns.
5% born outside the UK, fewer than in 65% of UK towns
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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 17% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). Few places have so few residents whose main language is English: 98% here, fewer than in 51% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%).
Crosby ranks below 96% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 27%
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: 93% of Crosby · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British in Crosby. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.4%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 83% of UK towns, at 11%
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
38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 43%, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. Against that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 1,566 residents.
Degree-level qualifications: 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Crosby, 35% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Seaforth South to 51 in Blundellsands
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Blundellsands is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Seaforth South the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Crosby East (29% of households).
16th highest median age among 135 UK towns of 35,000 to 68,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Lytham St Anne's (54.4), the oldest. Nearest to Crosby in age: Neath (44.8), Bebington (45.1), Kingswinford (45.8) and Locks Heath (45.8).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Crosby 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 Crosby’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. Crosby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 50,505 people in 2021, against 50,218 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 Crosby’s residents
What is the population of Crosby?
The 2021 Census counted 50,218 people in Crosby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 51,700 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Crosby?
The median age was 45.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 59% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Crosby?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Crosby?
27% said they had no religion and 66% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Crosby good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Crosby East (29% of households). Schools are on Crosby’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.