Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.06.5% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 96% of UK towns
In Southport, 26% of households live in a flat or apartment, beside 23% across England’s towns. 94,438 residents in 42,424 households: that is Southport at the 2021 Census. Here, just over a third of residents said they have no religion. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in 83% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 61% of UK towns grew faster than Southport: +5%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Southport’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 90,400 people in 2011; 94,900 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2013 to mid-2014, 700 people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+20%) and the 16 to 29 least (−7%).
Older than 76% of UK towns: half of Southport is over 48.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 18%; Southport has 26%. Locally, 9.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Southport, 48.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
More students than 69% of UK towns: 5.3% of adults in Southport
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 33% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 24% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). By way of comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Nearly 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.
A larger share of one-person households than 87% of UK towns: 35%
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 2.2 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. 3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a higher share than in 75% of UK towns. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Southport: 23% of households have no car or van, above 83% 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
Detached houses are home to 20% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A lower share of residents whose main language is English than 79% of UK towns, at 95%
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for 19% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents were born outside the UK in Southport.
Southport ranks above 91% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 58%
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: 89% of Southport · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 89%, against 73% across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (5.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Chinese (0.5%). Across the comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
In Southport, 11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 80% 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
2,973 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. For unpaid carers, the comparison across England’s towns is 8.7%. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 44%, fewer than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. The share of adults who have never married is 34%, against 39% across England’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 32%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 32% of adults in Southport (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 18% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 40 in Southport High Park to 59 in Hesketh Park
The town’s 13 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Hesketh Park is the oldest area, with 41% aged 65 or over; Southport High Park the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Meols Cop (32% of households).
Of 79 UK towns its size (66,000 to 127,000 people), the 2nd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Paignton the oldest (48.4). Nearest to Southport in age: Lowestoft (46), Bognor Regis (48.3) and Paignton (48.4).
Southport and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southport | 94,438 | — | 48.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Banks | 4,439 | 4 mi | 50.6 | 26% | 22% |
| Formby | 22,892 | 6.4 mi | 52.1 | 31% | 24% |
| Ormskirk | 27,720 | 6.8 mi | 38.7 | 22% | 23% |
| Burscough | 8,773 | 6.8 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Rufford | 1,562 | 7 mi | 52.4 | 28% | 23% |
| Tarleton and Hesketh Bank | 8,756 | 7.5 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 26% |
| Lytham St Anne's | 42,693 | 7.8 mi | 54.4 | 32% | 19% |
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 Southport’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. Southport’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 92,978 people in 2021, against 94,438 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 Southport’s residents
What is the population of Southport?
The 2021 Census counted 94,438 people in Southport’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 94,900 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Southport?
The median age was 48.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 76% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Southport?
89% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Southport?
34% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Southport good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Meols Cop (32% of households). Schools are on Southport’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.