Photo: Gary Rogers · CC BY-SA 2.0St Helens sits above 96% of UK towns for unpaid carers (12%)
Nearly a third of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. By contrast, on households without a car or van, St Helens sits higher than 90% of UK towns: 27%. The 2021 Census put the city’s population at 107,684, in 47,855 households. Census figures put households in terraced houses at 34% here.
What the Census says about St Helens’s people
Many carers
12,186 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 96% 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.
A +9% change since 2011: St Helens grew faster than 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. St Helens’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 106,100 people in 2011; 115,300 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+24%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−1%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 1,740 more people.
A median age of 41.7: St Helens is younger than 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, above 78% of UK towns. For St Helens, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 19%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ St Helens, 41.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Above 68% of UK towns: 5.3% of adults are full-time students
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 a quarter of St Helens’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 32%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are rarer here than in 67% of UK towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More people live alone than in 73% of UK towns: 33% of households
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.
The average household has 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Locally, 28% of households have dependent children. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 56% of UK towns. One-person households make up 30% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of households in detached houses than 90% of UK towns: 12%
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
On the census count, one in ten households live in a flat or apartment. The share of households in detached houses across England’s towns is 21%.
97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 67% 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
5.6% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8.8% across Merseyside’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
St Helens sits above 96% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (61%)
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 St Helens · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 93% in St Helens. Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46% across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.4%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.4%).
41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 89% 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
Where nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, St Helens has 40%. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 4,203 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
25% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
St Helens’s adults: 25% with a degree-level qualification and 23% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 36 in Town Centre East & Fingerpost to 49 in Eccleston
The city’s 14 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Eccleston is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Town Centre East & Fingerpost the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Nutgrove & Lea Green (35% of households).
Among 72 UK towns of 75,000 to 145,000 people, the 16th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Salford (29.8) and the oldest Southport (48.4). Nearest to St Helens in age: Carlisle (41.1), Wigan (41.1), Newcastle-under-Lyme (42) and Hartlepool (42.3).
Older than St Helens: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Helens | 107,684 | — | 41.7 | 19% | 28% |
| Prescot | 39,227 | 2.8 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 27% |
| Haydock | 16,143 | 3.1 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 26% |
| Billinge | 4,963 | 3.4 mi | 53.3 | 34% | 22% |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 3.8 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 24% |
| Cronton | 1,234 | 4 mi | 53.6 | 30% | 21% |
| Rainford | 5,573 | 4.2 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 22% |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 4.5 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 29% |
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 St Helens’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. St Helens’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 111,398 people in 2021, against 107,684 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 St Helens’s residents
What is the population of St Helens?
The 2021 Census counted 107,684 people in St Helens’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 115,300 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in St Helens?
The median age was 41.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 71% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is St Helens?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in St Helens?
32% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is St Helens good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Nutgrove & Lea Green (35% of households). Schools are on St Helens’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.