Photo: Roger D Kidd · CC BY-SA 2.0Younger than 96% of UK towns: half of Bilston is under 35.3
Adults who have never married: 43%, above 94% of UK towns. In Bilston, nearly a third of households have no car or van. On households in detached houses, Bilston sits lower than 89% of UK towns: 13%. 34,631 residents in 13,679 households: that is Bilston at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Bilston’s people
A town of families
36% of Bilston’s 13,679 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 94% of UK towns. 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Bilston’s residents are under 35.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A mix of backgrounds
41% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 96% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Indian (15%), Other White (6.4%) and Mixed or multiple (5.6%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Bilston at 28,100 in 2011 and 36,800 in 2024, up 31%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 94% 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 +31% change since 2011: faster than 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bilston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 28,100 people in 2011; 36,800 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+50%) and weakest among the 65 and over (+9%). The steepest year was mid-2021 to mid-2022, up 1,360 people.
14% of residents are 65 or over, below 93% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. In Aldridge, the oldest of West Midlands’ towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bilston, 35.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A student town: 7.1% of adults study full-time
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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
More family households than 94% of UK towns: 36% in Bilston
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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 2.9% in Bilston. The wider picture: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. There are 2.5 people in the average household. One-person households are rarer here than in 55% of UK towns.
22% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 88% of UK towns don’t reach
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 24% across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses in Bilston comes in at 19%. Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%.
Bilston ranks above 93% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 21%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (8.6%) and in EU countries (7.2%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. 86% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 96% of UK towns.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 96% of UK towns: 59%
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: 59% of Bilston · West Midlands’ towns 56% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 2.4% of residents. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Bilston has fewer residents with no religion than 88% of UK towns, at 33%. On top of that, in Bilston, 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 91% of UK towns
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
Students and young renters account for much of that. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care.
21% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Bilston’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 30% have none (18%). Students still working towards a degree help explain why A levels are the highest qualification of 14%.
From a median age of 33 in Ettingshall to 40 in East Park
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
East Park is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Ettingshall the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Bilston North West (45% of households).
Ranked by age, 5th youngest of 203 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Bilston in age: Nelson (33.4), Little Hulton (34.7), Farnworth (35.7) and Didcot (35.8).
Older than Bilston: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilston | 34,631 | — | 35.3 | 14% | 36% |
| Darlaston | 21,541 | 1.4 mi | 33.9 | 12% | 40% |
| Coseley | 25,206 | 2 mi | 42 | 20% | 29% |
| Tipton | 47,202 | 2.2 mi | 36.6 | 14% | 35% |
| Wednesbury | 20,321 | 2.5 mi | 39.1 | 17% | 33% |
| Willenhall | 49,582 | 2.5 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Wolverhampton | 234,029 | 2.8 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 32% |
| Sedgley | 31,976 | 3.3 mi | 45.7 | 24% | 26% |
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 Bilston’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. Bilston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,604 people in 2021, against 34,631 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 Bilston’s residents
What is the population of Bilston?
The 2021 Census counted 34,631 people in Bilston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 36,800 people in mid-2024, 31% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bilston?
The median age was 35.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bilston?
59% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 56% across West Midlands’ towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bilston?
33% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Bilston good for families?
36% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Bilston North West (45% of households). Schools are on Bilston’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.