Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households with dependent children than 73% of UK towns: 25%
Here 21% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. Lichfield had 32,586 residents in 14,724 households at the 2021 Census. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 33%, more than in nearly three quarters of UK towns.
Lichfield changed by +7% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lichfield’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 32,300 people in 2011; 34,500 in 2024.
Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 790 people. Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+36%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−7%).
A median age of 46.3: Lichfield is older than 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.3%, against 12% across England’s towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lichfield, 46.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Lichfield ranks above 63% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 9.4%
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%.
4.9% of adults are full-time students, against 7.9% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Lichfield households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 75% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Staffordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (2.1%), Lichfield is below nearly two thirds of UK towns.
18% of households have no car or van, more than in 61% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Lichfield has 18%. One household in 6 has no car or van. Higher than in three fifths of UK towns: 33% of households live in a detached house.
In Lichfield, 97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 63% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.4%). Across England’s towns, residents whose main language is English come to 90%. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 18% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 73% 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: 91% of Lichfield · Staffordshire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
91% of residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%). Fewer residents with no religion than in 61% of UK towns: 39%. As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (4%), Mixed or multiple (2.1%) and Indian (0.8%).
A lower share of adults who have never married than 55% of UK towns, at 32%
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
Some 784 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. For comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The figure for married adults and civil partners is 48% in Lichfield and 44% across England’s towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 39%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 39% of adults in Lichfield (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
From a median age of 44 in Lichfield Central to 51 in Lichfield East
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Lichfield East is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Lichfield Central the youngest (median age 44). Families with children are most common in Lichfield West & South (28% of households).
28th oldest of 208 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Lichfield in age: Maldon (46.2), Fareham (46.2), Canvey Island (46.3) and Whitley Bay (46.6).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Lichfield 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lichfield | 32,586 | — | 46.3 | 24% | 25% |
| Streethay | 2,166 | 1.3 mi | 32.2 | 7.5% | 38% |
| Whittington | 2,477 | 2.8 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 30% |
| Shenstone | 2,196 | 3.1 mi | 52.7 | 30% | 26% |
| Fradley | 3,609 | 3.2 mi | 37.2 | 13% | 38% |
| Burntwood | 27,891 | 4.1 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 26% |
| Handsacre and Armitage | 4,837 | 4.4 mi | 47.5 | 22% | 26% |
| King's Bromley | 1,031 | 4.5 mi | 56.5 | 37% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Staffordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Staffordshire (or England), summed the same way as Lichfield’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. Lichfield’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 32,586 people in 2021, against 32,586 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 Lichfield’s residents
What is the population of Lichfield?
The 2021 Census counted 32,586 people in Lichfield’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 34,500 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lichfield?
The median age was 46.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 64% of UK towns. 9.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lichfield?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Staffordshire’s towns. 6.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lichfield?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Lichfield good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Lichfield West & South (28% of households). Schools are on Lichfield’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.