Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0More households in terraced houses than 92% of UK towns: 37%
The share of married adults and civil partners is 40%, against 44% across England’s towns. In Featherstone, 15% of households live in a detached house. Half of the town’s residents are under 39.9, younger than in 81% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 11,657 residents in 5,224 households.
What the Census says about Featherstone’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Featherstone at 10,800 in 2011 and 12,700 in 2024, up 17%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 81% 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.
+17% since 2011, a pace 81% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Featherstone’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,800 people in 2011; 12,700 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2021 to mid-2022: 290. Split by age, the 30 to 44 changed most (+36%) and the 45 to 64 least (+5%).
Featherstone ranks above 64% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30–34 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents. On average, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 19% here, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Featherstone, 39.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 3.8%, a lower share than 90% 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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Featherstone has 7.3%. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 70% 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.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Featherstone. Locally, 32% of households are one person living alone.
Only 7.5% of households live in a flat or apartment in Featherstone
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
Here 25% of households have no car or van, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Against that, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Fewer residents whose main language is English than 66% of UK towns: 97%
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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 15% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). As a yardstick, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK account for 5.5%.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 67% of UK towns: 43%
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: 93% of Featherstone · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 93%, above 61% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (3.8%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and African (0.4%).
A higher share of adults who have never married than 88% of UK towns, at 40%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 422. As a reference point, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 9.6%, about the same as across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 19% of adults
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 Featherstone, 19%, and 29% have none, against 18%.
Of 432 UK towns its size (8,000 to 16,000 people), the 54th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Featherstone in age: Amesbury (39.8), Flint (39.8), Stansted Mountfitchet (40.1) and Kings Hill (40.1).
Median age: 5 of the 7 towns around Featherstone 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Featherstone | 11,657 | — | 39.9 | 19% | 27% |
| Streethouse | 1,691 | 1.8 mi | 39.5 | 18% | 33% |
| Pontefract | 32,982 | 2.3 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 28% |
| Sharlston | 2,163 | 2.4 mi | 45.8 | 20% | 28% |
| Ackworth Moor Top | 6,275 | 2.5 mi | 40.5 | 18% | 30% |
| Normanton | 21,976 | 2.9 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 28% |
| Castleford | 45,363 | 3 mi | 38.7 | 16% | 29% |
| Crofton | 6,127 | 3.2 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 29% |
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 Featherstone’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. Featherstone’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,050 people in 2021, against 11,657 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 Featherstone’s residents
What is the population of Featherstone?
The 2021 Census counted 11,657 people in Featherstone’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,700 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Featherstone?
The median age was 39.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 81% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Featherstone?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Featherstone?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Featherstone good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Featherstone’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.