Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0Formby is older than 92% of UK towns: a median age of 52.1
69% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 22,892 people lived in Formby, in 9,790 households. Locally, 27% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. On households in detached houses, Formby sits higher than 81% of UK towns: 43%.
What the Census says about Formby’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Formby’s residents are under 52.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
A change of +1% since 2011 leaves Formby behind 79% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Formby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 23,800 people in 2011; 24,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+13%) and the 45 to 64 group least (−6%). The steepest year was mid-2023 to mid-2024, up 210 people.
Formby: 31% of residents are 65 or over, above 93% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 70–74: 7.8% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9.2% here, fewer than in 68% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Formby, 52.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
In Formby, 5.3% of adults are full-time students, more than in 70% 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%.
Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 7.8% in Formby. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
24% of households have dependent children, below 78% of UK towns
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.
With one-person households at 29%, Formby is behind just over three fifths of UK towns on that count. Here, 1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
In Formby, 2.9% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 99% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Formby comes in at 13%. Households in flats: nearly a tenth of the total.
Residents born outside the UK make up 4.3% in Formby, less than in 74% 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
Residents whose main language is English make up 99%, against 90% across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 25%, a lower share than 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: 94% of Formby · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.3%). Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 70% of UK towns. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 86% of UK towns, at 54%
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
699 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 11% here, more than in 80% of UK towns. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 40% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
13% of Formby’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 40% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 48 in Formby South East & Ince Blundell to 56 in Formby West & Freshfield North
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Formby West & Freshfield North is the oldest area, with 35% aged 65 or over; Formby South East & Ince Blundell the youngest (median age 48). Families with children are most common in Formby South East & Ince Blundell (26% of households).
Ranked by age, 6th oldest of 272 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bangor (26.4) and the oldest Brixham (55.6). Nearest to Formby in age: Broadstairs (50.4), Felixstowe (51), Heswall (52.2) and Lee-on-the-Solent (52.3).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Formby
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 Formby’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. Formby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 23,629 people in 2021, against 22,892 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 Formby’s residents
What is the population of Formby?
The 2021 Census counted 22,892 people in Formby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 24,100 people in mid-2024, 1% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Formby?
The median age was 52.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 9.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Formby?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Formby?
25% said they had no religion and 69% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Formby good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Formby South East & Ince Blundell (26% of households). Schools are on Formby’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.