Photo: Necrothesp at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Balsall Common sits above 97% of UK towns for households in detached houses (61%)
A quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). There were 2,879 households in Balsall Common at the 2021 Census, home to 7,094 residents. Here, 10% of households live in a terraced house. One-person households are rarer here than in 89% of UK towns.
Older than 75% of UK towns: half of Balsall Common is over 48.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with nearly one in ten residents. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 72% of UK towns. 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 10% in Balsall Common.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Balsall Common, 48.2. 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.
Balsall Common ranks above 85% of UK towns on full-time students: 6.1%
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%.
52% of Balsall Common’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 11% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 8.1%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 85% of UK towns: 2.5 people each on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.2%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 29% of the total.
7.9% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 92% 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
Households in flats: 10% here and 23% across England’s towns. On top of that, every 13th household or so has no car or van.
Below 57% of UK towns: 5.7% of residents were born outside the UK
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
13% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. In Balsall Common, 98% of residents have English as their main language.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 80% of UK towns: 55%
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: 88% of Balsall Common · West Midlands’ towns 56% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Balsall Common comes in at 35%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 88%, fewer than in 72% of UK towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Indian (3.9%), Other White (3.2%) and Mixed or multiple (2.5%).
A higher share of married adults and civil partners than 97% of UK towns, at 59%
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
For 159 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Across the comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. 9.7% of residents give unpaid care (England’s towns: 8.7%).
48% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Balsall Common, 48%, and 12% have none, against 18%.
Among 538 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, the 145th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.9 in Red Lodge to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Balsall Common in age: Dinas Powis (48.1), Appley Bridge (48.2), Shipston-on-Stour (48.2) and Chipping Sodbury (48.3).
1 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Balsall Common
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balsall Common | 7,094 | — | 48.2 | 25% | 29% |
| Burton Green | 1,556 | 2.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 30% |
| Meriden | 2,203 | 3.3 mi | 46.4 | 25% | 25% |
| Hampton in Arden | 1,867 | 3.3 mi | 45.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Knowle and Dorridge | 19,323 | 4.3 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 30% |
| Kenilworth | 22,239 | 4.5 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 25% |
| Kingswood | 1,197 | 5 mi | 48.1 | 22% | 26% |
| Leek Wootton | 1,003 | 5.9 mi | 51.1 | 27% | 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.
- “West Midlands’ towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Midlands (or England), summed the same way as Balsall Common’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Balsall Common’s residents
What is the population of Balsall Common?
The 2021 Census counted 7,094 people in Balsall Common’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Balsall Common?
The median age was 48.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 75% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Balsall Common?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 56% across West Midlands’ towns. 5.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Balsall Common?
35% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Balsall Common good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Balsall Common’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). 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.