Irchester War Memorial · Photo: Philip Jeffrey · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 90% of UK towns: 8.2%
In Irchester, a quarter of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns. Residents with no religion account for 45%. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 71% of UK towns. The town’s 1,959 households held 4,543 residents at the 2021 Census.
From 2011 to 2024, 60% of UK towns grew faster than Irchester: +5%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Irchester’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,800 people in 2011; 5,000 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2017: 90 more people. Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+29%) and weakest among the 45 to 64 (−6%).
Older than 74% of UK towns: half of Irchester is over 47.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: 7.6% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, 25% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Irchester, 47.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Irchester ranks below 94% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.5%
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 or semi-routine work; Irchester has 28% and 29%. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 7.6% locally. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Only 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Irchester
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Northamptonshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
On one-person households, Irchester sits lower than 58% of UK towns: 29%. Elsewhere, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Households here average 2.3 people each.
Irchester sits below 83% of UK towns for households in flats (5.1%)
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, 24% of households live in a detached house in Irchester. Add to that, this Northamptonshire town has fewer households without a car or van than 74% of UK towns, at 11%. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: nearly a fifth of the total.
Fewer residents born abroad than 57% of UK towns: 5.7%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.2%) and in Africa (0.9%). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Irchester sits lower than 52% of UK towns: 98%. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 13% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
Only 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Irchester
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 Irchester · Northamptonshire’s towns 77% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (3.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.6%). As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Higher than in half of UK towns: 92% of residents describe themselves as White British.
A larger share of unpaid carers than 79% 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
49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership (England’s towns: 44%). For unpaid carers, the comparison across England’s towns is 8.7%.
A degree-level qualification for 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Irchester’s adults: 24% with a degree-level qualification and 23% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, the 273rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Irchester in age: Milborne Port (47.8), Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel (47.9), Bayston Hill (48) and Makeney (48.1).
Nearby, 1 of 7 towns have older populations than Irchester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irchester | 4,543 | — | 47.9 | 25% | 25% |
| Wymington | 1,000 | 1.9 mi | 36.3 | 15% | 37% |
| Rushden | 31,689 | 2 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 29% |
| Wollaston | 3,564 | 2.1 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 30% |
| Wellingborough | 54,421 | 2.9 mi | 38.6 | 16% | 32% |
| Higham Ferrers | 8,825 | 3 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 32% |
| Great Doddington | 1,147 | 3 mi | 51.8 | 29% | 23% |
| Irthlingborough | 9,308 | 3.4 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Northamptonshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Northamptonshire (or England), summed the same way as Irchester’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. Irchester’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,912 people in 2021, against 4,543 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 Irchester’s residents
What is the population of Irchester?
The 2021 Census counted 4,543 people in Irchester’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,000 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Irchester?
The median age was 47.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 74% of UK towns. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Irchester?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 77% across Northamptonshire’s towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Irchester?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Irchester good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Irchester’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.