Photo: Gillie Rhodes · CC BY-SA 2.0Birmingham is younger than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 33.6
Households with dependent children make up 34%, against 29% across England’s towns. Locally, a third of households have no car or van. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 98% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Birmingham was home to 1,121,367 people in 413,293 households.
What the Census says about Birmingham’s people
A student city
The 2021 Census counted 115,218 full-time students aged 16 and over, 13% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 98% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
More born abroad than most towns
27% of residents were born outside the UK, against 22% across West Midlands’ towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (14%) and in EU countries (6%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Birmingham’s residents are under 33.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 16% are 15 to 24 and 13% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A mix of backgrounds
57% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 98% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Pakistani (17%), African (6%) and Other White (5.7%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, Birmingham outgrew 63% of UK towns: +11%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Birmingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 1,051,200 people in 2011; 1,163,100 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 45 to 64 (+15%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (+6%). No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 17,220.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 97% of UK towns: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Birmingham, 13% of residents are 65 or over, beside 18% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Birmingham, 33.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A student city: 13% 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%.
Leave the students aside and Birmingham’s other adults differ from England’s: 26% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. On the census count, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.6 people per household, more than in 97% of UK towns
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.
One-person households make up 32%, against 30% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are common here: 5%, more than in 96% of UK towns.
8.8% of households live in a detached house, below 95% 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
26% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). Here, 30% of households live in a terraced house. Measured more widely, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 27% in Birmingham, more than in 97% 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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Birmingham comes in at 84%. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (14%) and in EU countries (6%).
43% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 98% 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: 43% of Birmingham · West Midlands’ towns 56% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Pakistani (17%), African (6%) and Other White (5.7%). Typically, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. 33% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 98% of UK towns.
Above 97% of UK towns: 46% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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. Lower than in 93% of UK towns: 39% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Locally, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care.
28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
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 Birmingham, 28%, and 25% have none, against 18%. Many still at university: 17% list A levels as their highest qualification.
From a median age of 22 in North Central & Dartmouth Circus to 58 in Wythall & Gay Hill
The city’s 137 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Wythall & Gay Hill is the oldest area, with 40% aged 65 or over; North Central & Dartmouth Circus the youngest (median age 22). Students cluster in Selly Oak, where 82% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Bordesley Green North (61% of households).
Ranked by age, 3rd youngest of 7 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Manchester is the youngest (30.4); Sheffield the oldest (36.2). Nearest to Birmingham in age: Manchester (30.4), Leeds (33.4), Bristol (33.9) and Leicester (34.3).
The towns around Birmingham are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 1,121,367 | — | 33.6 | 13% | 34% |
| Smethwick | 56,343 | 3.9 mi | 33.7 | 11% | 41% |
| Solihull | 107,754 | 4.7 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Oldbury | 45,188 | 5.3 mi | 38.4 | 15% | 34% |
| Hollywood | 6,944 | 5.5 mi | 49.4 | 28% | 26% |
| Pheasey | 9,498 | 6.1 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 32% |
| Dickens Heath | 4,797 | 6.2 mi | 36 | 8.6% | 32% |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 6.2 mi | 37.9 | 15% | 34% |
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 Birmingham’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. Birmingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 1,123,293 people in 2021, against 1,121,367 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 Birmingham’s residents
What is the population of Birmingham?
The 2021 Census counted 1,121,367 people in Birmingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 1,163,100 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Birmingham?
The median age was 33.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 97% of UK towns. 16% of residents were 15 to 24 and 13% were 65 or over.
Is Birmingham a student city?
Yes: 13% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (115,218 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Selly Oak, 82% of adults were students.
How diverse is Birmingham?
43% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 56% across West Midlands’ towns. 27% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Birmingham?
25% said they had no religion and 33% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 30% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Birmingham good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Bordesley Green North (61% of households). Schools are on Birmingham’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.