Photo: habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0More people live alone than in 98% of UK towns: 40% of households
With a median age of 50, Hoylake is older than 84% of UK towns. In Hoylake, nearly one in ten households live in a detached house. This Merseyside town counted 5,311 residents and 2,434 households at the 2021 Census. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; here, 22%.
What the Census says about Hoylake’s people
A town of flats
34% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 97% of UK towns. 24% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Hoylake ranks below 85% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.5%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, Hoylake has 27%. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 8.2% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hoylake, 50. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Hoylake sits above 65% of UK towns for full-time students (5.2%)
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 take in 42% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 18% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%. On the census count, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 94% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%.
A town of flats: 34% of households live in one
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
Nothing unusual on households without a car or van: 24%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Hoylake has more households in terraced houses than 88% of UK towns, at 34%. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 98% in Hoylake, more than in 64% 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
Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 11%. Measured more widely, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 57%, a higher share than 87% 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: 92% of Hoylake · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
36% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Chinese (0.6%).
11% of residents give unpaid care, a share 87% of UK towns don’t reach
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 figure for married adults and civil partners is 42% in Hoylake and 44% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Some 173 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Qualified to degree level: 43% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
43% of Hoylake’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 14% have none (18%).
Among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, the 104th oldest
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 Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Hoylake in age: Brigg (50), Culcheth (50), Branston (50) and Needham Market (50).
5 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Hoylake
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoylake | 5,311 | — | 50 | 27% | 22% |
| Meols | 5,023 | 0.9 mi | 51 | 27% | 27% |
| West Kirby | 13,383 | 1.5 mi | 50.4 | 28% | 25% |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 2.4 mi | 55.4 | 34% | 24% |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.8 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 24% |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 5 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 23% |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 5.1 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 27% |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 5.2 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 28% |
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 Hoylake’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 Hoylake’s residents
What is the population of Hoylake?
The 2021 Census counted 5,311 people in Hoylake’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hoylake?
The median age was 50 at the 2021 Census, older than 84% of UK towns. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hoylake?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hoylake?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Hoylake good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hoylake’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.