Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 36: Dickens Heath is younger than 94% of UK towns
Households with dependent children: 32%, above 85% of UK towns. 13% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 80% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 4,797 residents and 2,132 households in Dickens Heath. One-person households account for 34%.
What the Census says about Dickens Heath’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Dickens Heath’s residents are under 36 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 11% are 15 to 24 and 8.6% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Dickens Heath at 3,200 in 2011 and 4,400 in 2024, up 37%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 96% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
A town of flats
44% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 6.2% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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 growing town: +37% since 2011, faster than 96% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dickens Heath’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,200 people in 2011; 4,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+171%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (+10%). Mid-2016 to mid-2017 brought the biggest yearly rise, 400 people.
Below 98% of UK towns: 8.6% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 25–29, with nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dickens Heath, 36. 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.
13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 94% of UK towns
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, 7.9% of adults are full-time students; in Dickens Heath, 5.8%. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a share 69% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
At 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.3% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Households in flats make up 44% in Dickens Heath, more than in 99% 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
6.2% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%. On the census count, 30% of households live in a detached house.
11% born outside the UK, more than in 78% 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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (4.3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (4.2%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 96%, fewer than in three quarters of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 90% of UK towns: 73%
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: 73% of Dickens Heath · West Midlands’ towns 56% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Muslims make up 3.5% of residents. At 45%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 78% of UK towns. On top of that, 38% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
Dickens Heath sits below 98% of UK towns for unpaid carers (6.6%)
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
Married adults and civil partners: 45% here and 44% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. The usual figure: 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 69 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 52% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 52% of Dickens Heath’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 6.6% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 32nd youngest of 695 UK towns this size
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 Dickens Heath in age: Queenborough (35.8), Backworth (36), Benson (36) and Askern (36.1).
Dickens Heath is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dickens Heath | 4,797 | — | 36 | 8.6% | 32% |
| Tidbury Green | 1,552 | 0.8 mi | 37 | 14% | 39% |
| Cheswick Green | 2,743 | 1 mi | 43.1 | 24% | 32% |
| Wythall | 2,077 | 1.6 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 29% |
| Hollywood | 6,944 | 1.8 mi | 49.4 | 28% | 26% |
| Solihull | 107,754 | 2.9 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Hockley Heath | 1,899 | 3.2 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 30% |
| Knowle and Dorridge | 19,323 | 3.6 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 30% |
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 Dickens Heath’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. Dickens Heath’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,322 people in 2021, against 4,797 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 Dickens Heath’s residents
What is the population of Dickens Heath?
The 2021 Census counted 4,797 people in Dickens Heath’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,400 people in mid-2024, 37% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dickens Heath?
The median age was 36 at the 2021 Census, younger than 94% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 8.6% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dickens Heath?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 56% across West Midlands’ towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dickens Heath?
38% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Dickens Heath good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dickens Heath’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.