Photo: S Parish · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 98% of UK towns: half of Hightown is over 56.6
The figure for residents with no religion is 21% in Hightown and 37% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census, 2,018 people lived here, in 902 households. On the census count, 72% of households live in a detached house. The village has fewer households with dependent children than 95% of UK towns, at 20%.
What the Census says about Hightown’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Hightown’s residents are under 56.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
252 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
6.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: just over one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, nearly a third of residents are 65 or over. Against that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Fewer full-time students than 90% of UK towns: 3.8%
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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Hightown has 7.7%. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
A lower share of one-person households than 85% of UK towns, at 25%
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.8%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. The benchmark for one-person households across England’s towns: 30%.
In Hightown, 4% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 98% 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
2.3% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). Across the comparison, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 9.5%.
3.5% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 85% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns, against 99% in Hightown. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 74% in Hightown, more than in 99% 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: 96% of Hightown · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.2%).
Unpaid carers make up 13% in Hightown, more than in 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
By its share of married adults and civil partners (61%), Hightown is above 99% of UK towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 23%, fewer than in 98% of UK towns. Against that, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 42%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 42% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 12% hold no qualification (18%).
The towns around Hightown are all younger
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
- “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 Hightown’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Hightown’s residents
What is the population of Hightown?
The 2021 Census counted 2,018 people in Hightown’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hightown?
The median age was 56.6 at the 2021 Census. 6.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hightown?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hightown?
21% said they had no religion and 74% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 3.6% didn’t answer.
Is Hightown good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hightown’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). 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.