Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0In Brighouse, 1.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 90% of UK towns
At 2.2 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Still, nearly a third of households live in a terraced house, more than in 86% of UK towns. There were 15,160 households in Brighouse at the 2021 Census, home to 33,159 residents. For Brighouse, the census puts households in detached houses at 18%.
From 2011 to 2024, 78% of UK towns grew faster than Brighouse: +2%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brighouse’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 34,600 people in 2011; 35,100 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+24%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−6%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 340 people.
A median age of 46.1: Brighouse is older than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 8% of residents. Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Brighouse comes in at 23%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brighouse, 46.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 70% of UK towns, at 7.8%
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%.
In Brighouse, 4.9% of adults are full-time students, beside 7.9% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns: 11%.
Brighouse: 34% of households are one person living alone, above 82% 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.
Households with dependent children: 26%, below 62% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
22% of households have no car or van, more than in 78% 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: 13% here and 23% across England’s towns. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
4.3% born outside the UK, fewer than in 74% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. More residents whose main language is English than in 70% of UK towns: 98%. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 15% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
43% said they have no religion, more than in 65% 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: 92% of Brighouse · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%. Against that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Pakistani (0.8%).
Brighouse sits below 62% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (46%)
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
Here just over a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 39%. The share of married adults and civil partners across England’s towns is 44%. 810 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 31%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Brighouse’s adults: 31% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 44 in Clifton & Bailiff Bridge to 47 in Brighouse
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Brighouse is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Clifton & Bailiff Bridge the youngest (median age 44). Families with children are most common in Hipperholme (29% of households).
Of 212 UK towns its size (23,000 to 45,000 people), the 31st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.3 in Hatfield to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Brighouse in age: Morecambe (45.9), Orrell (45.9), Maldon (46.2) and Fareham (46.2).
Median age: 1 of the 7 towns around Brighouse are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighouse | 33,159 | — | 46.1 | 23% | 26% |
| Scholes (near Cleckheaton) | 2,896 | 2.2 mi | 44 | 22% | 29% |
| Elland | 15,788 | 2.6 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Shelf and Northowram | 9,191 | 3 mi | 48.7 | 24% | 25% |
| Cleckheaton | 11,607 | 3.1 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 27% |
| Oakenshaw | 1,571 | 3.5 mi | 41 | 17% | 28% |
| Liversedge | 17,519 | 3.6 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Huddersfield | 141,683 | 4 mi | 37.7 | 16% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Brighouse’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. Brighouse’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 34,594 people in 2021, against 33,159 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 Brighouse’s residents
What is the population of Brighouse?
The 2021 Census counted 33,159 people in Brighouse’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 35,100 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Brighouse?
The median age was 46.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 62% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brighouse?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brighouse?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Brighouse good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Hipperholme (29% of households). Schools are on Brighouse’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.