Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 3.0Younger than 93% of UK towns: half of Batley is under 36.2
Households average 2.6 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 31%. Higher than in 92% of UK towns: 34% of households have dependent children. Census day 2021: 44,494 residents and 16,950 households in Batley.
What the Census says about Batley’s people
A mix of backgrounds
47% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 97% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Indian (22%), Pakistani (16%) and Other White (2.7%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Batley’s residents are under 36.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 14% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
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.
Batley changed by +5% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 61% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Batley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 44,200 people in 2011; 46,400 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 480 more people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+17%) and the 0 to 15 least (−1%).
14% of residents are 65 or over, below 92% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 13%, against 12% across England’s towns. More residents are 10–14 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Batley, 36.2. 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.2% in Batley, less than in 82% 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%.
Full-time students are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 7.7%. By way of comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, more than in 68% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The share of one-person households stands at 29%. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
A higher share of households in terraced houses than 87% of UK towns, at 33%
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 detached houses: 15% here and 21% across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 25%.
88% of residents have English as their main language, below 95% 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
Where 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns, Batley has 17%. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (12%) and in EU countries (2.7%).
Only 24% of residents said they have no religion in Batley
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: 53% of Batley · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Batley has 53%. Against that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Indian (22%), Pakistani (16%) and Other White (2.7%).
A higher share of adults who have never married than 75% of UK towns, at 37%
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
1,123 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Fewer unpaid carers than in 64% of UK towns: 8.9%. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Here 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Batley counts 23% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 26% have no qualification (18%). For 17%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 33 in Staincliffe & Healey to 43 in Shaw Cross & Hanging Heaton
The town’s 8 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Shaw Cross & Hanging Heaton is the oldest area, with 19% aged 65 or over; Staincliffe & Healey the youngest (median age 33). Families with children are most common in Staincliffe & Healey (41% of households).
164 UK towns of 31,000 to 60,000 people: this is the 11th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Batley in age: Keighley (36.1), Accrington (36.2), Bloxwich (36.3) and Royal Leamington Spa (36.3).
Around Batley, 6 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batley | 44,494 | — | 36.2 | 14% | 34% |
| Heckmondwike | 13,368 | 1.1 mi | 36.7 | 15% | 34% |
| Dewsbury | 63,730 | 2.3 mi | 34.4 | 13% | 38% |
| Liversedge | 17,519 | 2.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Drighlington | 5,280 | 2.6 mi | 46 | 22% | 26% |
| Morley | 32,562 | 2.7 mi | 39.4 | 16% | 27% |
| Gomersal and Birkenshaw | 13,948 | 2.7 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 30% |
| Gildersome | 6,278 | 2.9 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 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 Yorkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Yorkshire (or England), summed the same way as Batley’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. Batley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 45,133 people in 2021, against 44,494 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 Batley’s residents
What is the population of Batley?
The 2021 Census counted 44,494 people in Batley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 46,400 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Batley?
The median age was 36.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 93% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Batley?
53% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 17% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Batley?
24% said they had no religion and 31% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 40% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Batley good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Staincliffe & Healey (41% of households). Schools are on Batley’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.