Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Newton-le-Willows is under 38.1, younger than 89% of UK towns
Just over two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. Newton-le-Willows’s 10,859 households held 24,651 residents at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Higher than in 77% of UK towns: 28% of households live in a terraced house.
What the Census says about Newton-le-Willows’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Newton-le-Willows’s residents are under 38.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Newton-le-Willows at 22,100 in 2011 and 26,400 in 2024, up 19%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 85% 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.
Growth of +19% since 2011 puts Newton-le-Willows ahead of 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Newton-le-Willows’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 22,100 people in 2011; 26,400 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2019 to mid-2020, 480 people. Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+36%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (+6%).
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 90% of UK towns: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 8.3% of residents. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 10% in Newton-le-Willows.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Newton-le-Willows, 38.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 61% of UK towns: 8.2%
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 account for 31% of Newton-le-Willows’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 28%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 11% across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 4.9% here.
Newton-le-Willows sits above 67% of UK towns for one-person households (32%)
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.
At 29%, the share of households with dependent children is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 80% of UK towns: 22%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Newton-le-Willows has 19%. The benchmark for households without a car or van across England’s towns: 24%. The census found that just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment here.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 59% of UK towns: 5.5%
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
Across England’s towns, 90% of residents have English as their main language; in Newton-le-Willows, 97%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.8%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%.
Newton-le-Willows sits above 85% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (56%)
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: 93% of Newton-le-Willows · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Chinese (0.5%). At 37%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 74% of UK towns. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93%, against 73% across England’s towns.
Fewer married adults and civil partners than 92% of UK towns: 39%
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
10% of residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 814. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
30% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Newton-le-Willows counts 30% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 19% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 37 in Earlestown South to 39 in Earlestown North
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Earlestown North is the oldest area, with 15% aged 65 or over; Earlestown South the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Earlestown North (32% of households).
Of 257 UK towns its size (17,000 to 33,000 people), the 20th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Brixham the oldest (55.6). Nearest to Newton-le-Willows in age: Great Yarmouth (38), Redhill (38), Ingleby Barwick (38.2) and Cradley Heath (38.2).
Every nearby town is older than Newton-le-Willows
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | — | 38.1 | 15% | 29% |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 1.6 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 24% |
| Haydock | 16,143 | 1.9 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 26% |
| Winwick | 2,062 | 2.1 mi | 46.8 | 20% | 31% |
| Ashton-in-Makerfield | 26,367 | 2.8 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Golborne | 25,563 | 2.8 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 28% |
| Croft | 1,520 | 3.6 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 29% |
| Billinge | 4,963 | 4.1 mi | 53.3 | 34% | 22% |
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 Newton-le-Willows’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. Newton-le-Willows’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 25,365 people in 2021, against 24,651 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 Newton-le-Willows’s residents
What is the population of Newton-le-Willows?
The 2021 Census counted 24,651 people in Newton-le-Willows’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 26,400 people in mid-2024, 19% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Newton-le-Willows?
The median age was 38.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 15% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Newton-le-Willows?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Newton-le-Willows?
37% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.1% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Newton-le-Willows good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Earlestown North (32% of households). Schools are on Newton-le-Willows’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.