Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0In Litherland, 5.5% of households live in a detached house, fewer than in 98% of UK towns
The figure for married adults and civil partners is 35% in Litherland and 44% across England’s towns. Across Litherland, 37% of households live in a terraced house. With a median age of 41.1, Litherland is younger than nearly three quarters of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Litherland was home to 18,752 people in 8,271 households.
What the Census says about Litherland’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Litherland at 18,300 in 2011 and 18,200 in 2024, down 0%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 85% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Many carers
2,019 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 92% 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.
Litherland’s population moved ±0% on 2011, less than in 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Litherland’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 18,300 people in 2011; 18,200 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +20% for the 65 and over to −14% for the 16 to 29.
Residents aged 65 and over: 18%, a lower share than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 11% in Litherland and 12% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Litherland, 41.1. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6.5% in Litherland, less than in 92% 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%.
In Litherland, 5.3% of adults are full-time students, beside 7.9% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Above 82% of UK towns: 34% of households are one person living alone
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.
Where 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, Litherland has 2%. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%. Average household size: 2.3 people. This Merseyside town has more households with dependent children than three fifths of UK towns, at 28%.
35% of households have no car or van, more 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
16% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). On average, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 4.5%, a lower share than 71% 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
Of residents born abroad, 25% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 97%, fewer than in 57% of UK towns.
Litherland ranks above 98% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 65%
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 Litherland · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and African (0.4%). Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns. With residents who describe themselves as White British at 94%, Litherland is ahead of 63% of UK towns on that count.
46% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 97% 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
By its share of unpaid carers (11%), Litherland is above 92% of UK towns. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 720 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Among adults, 21% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 21% of its adults qualified to degree level, Litherland compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 25% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Bootle North to 45 in Seaforth North
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Seaforth North is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Bootle North the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Seaforth South (31% of households).
Ranked by age, 72nd youngest of 325 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 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Litherland in age: Westbury (40.9), Peterlee (41.1), Chesham (41.1) and Leicester Forest East and Kirby Muxloe (41.2).
Litherland sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 Litherland’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. Litherland’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 17,916 people in 2021, against 18,752 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 Litherland’s residents
What is the population of Litherland?
The 2021 Census counted 18,752 people in Litherland’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Litherland?
The median age was 41.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Litherland?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Litherland?
29% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.1% didn’t answer.
Is Litherland good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Seaforth South (31% of households). Schools are on Litherland’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.