Photo: Ian Greig · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 98% of UK towns: 64%
By its share of households in flats (5.6%), Haydock is below 80% of UK towns. Locally, 14% of households live in a detached house. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are scarce here: 1.8%, fewer than in 78% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 16,143 residents locally, living in 7,112 households.
What the Census says about Haydock’s people
Many carers
1,873 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 97% 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.
±0% since 2011: slower than 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Haydock’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,900 people in 2011; 15,900 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+21%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−8%).
A median age of 45.9: Haydock is older than 61% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Haydock has 9.6%. Locally, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Haydock, 45.9. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year: 6.1%, a lower share than 96% 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%.
Nearly a quarter of Haydock’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. On the census count, 4.5% of adults are full-time students.
Fewer families than 64% of UK towns: 26% of households have children
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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The census found that 30% of households are one person living alone in Haydock.
Households without a car or van: 21%, a higher share than 75% 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
Nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, against 23% in Haydock.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 79% of UK towns: 3.9%
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
By its share of residents whose main language is English (98%), Haydock is above nearly three fifths of UK towns. The usual figure: 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 (1%).
In Haydock, 29% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 95% 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 Haydock · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 95% in Haydock. The usual figure: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.2%).
Unpaid carers: 12%, a higher share than 97% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 661 residents. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Higher than in 65% of UK towns: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 22% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 24% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 44 in Haydock East to 55 in Garswood
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Garswood is the oldest area, with 32% aged 65 or over; Haydock East the youngest (median age 44). Families with children are most common in Broad Oak (30% of households).
380 UK towns of 11,000 to 22,000 people: this is the 126th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Haydock in age: Blandford Forum (45.8), Skipton (45.9), Marlow (45.9) and Mirfield (46).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Haydock
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haydock | 16,143 | — | 45.9 | 23% | 26% |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 1.9 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 29% |
| Ashton-in-Makerfield | 26,367 | 2.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Billinge | 4,963 | 2.3 mi | 53.3 | 34% | 22% |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 2.5 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 24% |
| St Helens | 107,684 | 3.1 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 28% |
| Winwick | 2,062 | 4 mi | 46.8 | 20% | 31% |
| Golborne | 25,563 | 4 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Haydock’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. Haydock’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,617 people in 2021, against 16,143 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 Haydock’s residents
What is the population of Haydock?
The 2021 Census counted 16,143 people in Haydock’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,900 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Haydock?
The median age was 45.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Haydock?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Haydock?
29% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Haydock good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Broad Oak (30% of households). Schools are on Haydock’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.