Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Heswall is older than 92% of UK towns: a median age of 52.2
63% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 29,082 residents in 12,930 households. Here, 23% of households have dependent children. At 55%, the share of married adults and civil partners is higher than in 88% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Heswall’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Heswall’s residents are under 52.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Heswall at 30,600 in 2011 and 30,600 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 86% 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.
Heswall changed by ±0% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 86% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Heswall’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 30,600 people in 2011; 30,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+17%) and the 45 to 64 least (−11%).
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 92% of UK towns, at 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with 8% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.4% in Heswall. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Heswall, 52.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Only 7.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Heswall
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%.
In Heswall, 45% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. The census found that 5% of adults are full-time students here.
A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 85% of UK towns: 1.7%
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 Heswall, 2.2. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Here, 30% of households are one person living alone.
Heswall ranks below 97% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 5.8%
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 flats is 8.1% in Heswall and 23% across England’s towns. Against that, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Households in detached houses: 38% of the total. Just over one in ten households have no car or van, fewer than in 67% of UK towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 80% 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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 4.4% here, fewer than in 72% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for just over one in ten residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
30% said they have no religion, fewer than in 93% 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 Heswall · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 94%, against 73% across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.5%). Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Below 91% of UK towns: 25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
The share of unpaid carers tops 82% of UK towns: 11%. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 856 people.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 43%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Heswall counts 43% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 13% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 50 in Pensby & Thingwall to 55 in Gayton & Lower Heswall
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.
Gayton & Lower Heswall is the oldest area, with 34% aged 65 or over; Pensby & Thingwall the youngest (median age 50). Families with children are most common in Pensby & Thingwall (26% of households).
Ranked by age, 5th oldest of 240 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Heswall in age: Whitstable (51.3), Formby (52.1), Bridlington (52.3) and Lee-on-the-Solent (52.3).
Around Heswall, 1 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heswall | 29,082 | — | 52.2 | 31% | 23% |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.8 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 24% |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 3.1 mi | 55.4 | 34% | 24% |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 3.5 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Neston | 14,963 | 3.7 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 22% |
| West Kirby | 13,383 | 3.9 mi | 50.4 | 28% | 25% |
| Bebington | 57,607 | 4.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 27% |
| Meols | 5,023 | 4.9 mi | 51 | 27% | 27% |
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 Heswall’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. Heswall’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 30,309 people in 2021, against 29,082 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 Heswall’s residents
What is the population of Heswall?
The 2021 Census counted 29,082 people in Heswall’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 30,600 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Heswall?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 8.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Heswall?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Heswall?
30% said they had no religion and 63% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Heswall good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Pensby & Thingwall (26% of households). Schools are on Heswall’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.