Photo: Christine Matthews · CC BY-SA 2.0Liverpool is younger than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 36.2
The figure for households without a car or van is 39% in Liverpool and 24% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 506,564 residents in 216,134 households. The share of households in detached houses stands at 8.7%. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 99% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Liverpool’s people
A student city
The 2021 Census counted 60,594 full-time students aged 16 and over, 14% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 98% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 17% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Liverpool’s residents are under 36.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 17% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Merseyside
14% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8.8% across Merseyside’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (5.3%) and in EU countries (5.1%). Where people were born ↓
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.
Growth of +9% since 2011 puts Liverpool ahead of 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Liverpool’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 485,800 people in 2011; 530,300 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+19%) and the 45 to 64 group least (−1%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 9,590 more people.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of UK towns, at 17%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (15%), Liverpool is below 89% of UK towns. In Billinge, the oldest of Merseyside’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Liverpool, 36.2. 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.
14% of adults are full-time students, more than in 98% 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%.
Leave the students aside and Liverpool’s other adults differ from England’s: 29% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 13% here.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person homes: 37% of households in Liverpool
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.
Set against 29% across England’s towns, just over a quarter of households have dependent children in Liverpool. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%. Households here average 2.2 people each. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 97% of UK towns.
Liverpool ranks above 92% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 37%
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
There is little gap on households in flats: 23%, about the same as across England’s towns. The usual figure: 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
14% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
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
91% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (5.3%) or in EU countries (5.1%).
In Liverpool, 29% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 94% 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: 78% of Liverpool · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (6.6%), Mixed or multiple (3.4%) and African (2.5%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 58%, more than in 89% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 78%, against 73% across England’s towns.
32% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer 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
Students and young renters account for much of that. 15,678 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 9.7%, more than in nearly three fifths of UK towns.
31% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
22% of Liverpool’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 31% have one at degree level (34%). Many of the 20% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
From a median age of 22 in Central & Islington to 49 in Woolton
The city’s 66 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Woolton is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Central & Islington the youngest (median age 22). Students cluster in Central & Islington, where 72% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Norris Green East (46% of households).
9th highest median age among 27 UK towns of 284,000 to 855,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.4 in Manchester to 41.2 in Bromley. Nearest to Liverpool in age: Brent (35.9), Redbridge (36.1), Sheffield (36.2) and Hounslow (36.8).
The towns around Liverpool are all older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 506,564 | — | 36.2 | 15% | 26% |
| Huyton with Roby | 59,844 | 3 mi | 39.7 | 17% | 30% |
| Knowsley | 2,345 | 4.1 mi | 46.8 | 23% | 24% |
| Bootle | 53,722 | 4.8 mi | 39.3 | 16% | 28% |
| Aintree | 6,212 | 5.3 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 26% |
| Prescot | 39,227 | 5.5 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 27% |
| Kirkby | 45,559 | 5.5 mi | 37.9 | 15% | 32% |
| Litherland | 18,752 | 5.5 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 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 Liverpool’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. Liverpool’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 506,844 people in 2021, against 506,564 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 Liverpool’s residents
What is the population of Liverpool?
The 2021 Census counted 506,564 people in Liverpool’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 530,300 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Liverpool?
The median age was 36.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 17% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
Is Liverpool a student city?
Yes: 14% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (60,594 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Central & Islington, 72% of adults were students.
How diverse is Liverpool?
78% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Liverpool?
29% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 5.1% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Liverpool good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Norris Green East (46% of households). Schools are on Liverpool’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.