Grain Warehouse to North of Grain Warehouse Dock · Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0Wallasey sits below 93% of UK towns for households in detached houses (11%)
Here 36% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. For Wallasey, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 39%. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 92% of UK towns. The town counted 85,619 residents and 38,329 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Wallasey’s people
Many carers
9,302 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 93% 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 +1% change since 2011: slower than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wallasey’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 86,500 people in 2011; 87,300 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+24%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−14%). In one year, mid-2023 to mid-2024, the population rose by 850, the most of any year.
Half of Wallasey is under 43.2, younger than 60% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 7.5% of residents. Lower than in 62% of UK towns: 20% of residents are 65 or over. In Billinge, the oldest of Merseyside’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wallasey, 43.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Wallasey sits below 82% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7.2%)
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Wallasey, 28% and 28%. On the census count, 5.7% of adults are full-time students. Elsewhere, 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.
Wallasey households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 72% of UK towns
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Wallasey comes in at 2.6%. Across Wallasey, 27% of households have dependent children.
A larger share of households in flats than 83% of UK towns: 20%
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
By its share of households in terraced houses (27%), Wallasey is above 77% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment.
4.6% of residents were born outside the UK, below 68% 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
98% of residents have English as their main language (England’s towns: 90%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93% in Wallasey, more than in 60% 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: 93% of Wallasey · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents with no religion is 41% in Wallasey and 37% across England’s towns. For comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as Christian at 51% in the town.
More unpaid carers than 93% of UK towns: 11%
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
40% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). For comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Wallasey counts 27% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 20% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 35 in Seacombe to 52 in Saughall Massie
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.
Saughall Massie is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Seacombe the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Seacombe (31% of households).
16th highest median age among 88 UK towns of 60,000 to 116,000
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 Paignton (48.4). Nearest to Wallasey in age: Halesowen (42.9), Weston-super-Mare (43.1), Shrewsbury (43.2) and South Shields (43.6).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Wallasey
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallasey | 85,619 | — | 43.2 | 20% | 27% |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 2.4 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 3.5 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 24% |
| Meols | 5,023 | 4.3 mi | 51 | 27% | 27% |
| Litherland | 18,752 | 4.7 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 28% |
| Bootle | 53,722 | 4.8 mi | 39.3 | 16% | 28% |
| Crosby | 50,218 | 5 mi | 45.7 | 22% | 25% |
| Hoylake | 5,311 | 5.1 mi | 50 | 27% | 22% |
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 Wallasey’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. Wallasey’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 85,619 people in 2021, against 85,619 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 Wallasey’s residents
What is the population of Wallasey?
The 2021 Census counted 85,619 people in Wallasey’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 87,300 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Wallasey?
The median age was 43.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 60% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wallasey?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wallasey?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Wallasey good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Seacombe (31% of households). Schools are on Wallasey’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.