Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0West Kirby is older than 87% of UK towns: a median age of 50.4
58% of residents describe themselves as Christian (England’s towns: 46%). In 2021, the Census found 13,383 residents in West Kirby, living in 6,048 households. On the census count, a quarter of households have dependent children. Higher than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 34% of households are one person living alone.
What the Census says about West Kirby’s people
Older than most towns
Half of West Kirby’s residents are under 50.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put West Kirby at 13,700 in 2011 and 13,500 in 2024, down 1%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 89% 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.
A −1% change since 2011: slower than 89% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. West Kirby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,700 people in 2011; 13,500 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+17%) and 0 to 15 least (−12%).
More residents aged 65 and over than 85% of UK towns: 28%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.8%, against 12% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.1% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ West Kirby, 50.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Full-time students make up 5.7% in West Kirby, more than in 78% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in West Kirby, 48% and 15%. Lower than in 65% of UK towns: 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 74% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (England’s towns: 4.3%).
Households in terraced houses make up 15% in West Kirby, less than in 71% 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
Against a figure of 21% across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses in West Kirby comes in at 30%. Higher than in 86% of UK towns: 22% of households live in a flat or apartment. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Across West Kirby, 16% of households have no car or van.
Above 59% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Set beside that, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Since 2017: 11% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
In West Kirby, 35% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 84% 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: 92% of West Kirby · Merseyside’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British here. Typically, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (1%).
Only 28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in West Kirby
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
346 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 11%, more than in 79% of UK towns. Here 52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%.
Degree-level qualifications reach 47% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In West Kirby, 47% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 12% have no qualification at all (18%).
43rd oldest of 406 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to West Kirby in age: Prestatyn (50.3), Kinmel Bay (50.3), Llandudno (50.4) and Bridgnorth (50.5).
West Kirby and its 7 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 West Kirby’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. West Kirby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,383 people in 2021, against 13,383 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 West Kirby’s residents
What is the population of West Kirby?
The 2021 Census counted 13,383 people in West Kirby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,500 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in West Kirby?
The median age was 50.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is West Kirby?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Merseyside’s towns. 6.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in West Kirby?
35% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is West Kirby good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on West Kirby’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. 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.