Photo: Mr Barndoor · CC BY 3.0Younger than 89% of UK towns: half of Halifax is under 37.9
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 31% of households have no car or van in Halifax. At the same time, this West Yorkshire town has fewer households in detached houses than 95% of UK towns, at 8.9%. There were 37,115 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 88,111 residents. One-person households: 35% of the total.
What the Census says about Halifax’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Halifax’s residents are under 37.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 16% 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.
Slower than most: +6% since 2011, behind 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Halifax’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 89,700 people in 2011; 95,400 in 2024.
Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 1,310 people. Change by age ran from +20% for the 65 and over to −3% for the 16 to 29.
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.1% of residents. At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 91% of UK towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Halifax, 37.9. 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.
More students than 89% of UK towns: 6.7% of adults in Halifax
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 25% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 29% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Halifax has fewer residents who moved in within the year than 56% of UK towns, at 8.4%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Families with children: 31% of households, more than in 79% 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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Halifax, 2.4. At 2.5%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is higher than in 59% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
In Halifax, 46% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 97% 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
18% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). As a yardstick, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
14% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 85% 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
The share of residents whose main language is English is 91%, against 90% across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (8.4%), then in EU countries (4.2%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 36% in Halifax, less than in 97% 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: 70% of Halifax · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 20%. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 93% of UK towns. Little separates the share of residents with no religion here, 37%, from the figure across England’s towns.
Halifax ranks below 86% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 42%
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
Halifax sits close to the norm on adults who have never married: 39%, about the same as across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 2,218. Fewer unpaid carers than in 61% of UK towns: 9%. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
25% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Halifax counts 25% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 24% have no qualification (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 17%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 30 in King Cross to 46 in Skircoat Green
The town’s 14 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Skircoat Green is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; King Cross the youngest (median age 30). Families with children are most common in King Cross (45% of households).
Ranked by age, 23rd youngest of 85 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Paignton the oldest (48.4). Nearest to Halifax in age: Chatham (37.6), Basingstoke (37.8), West Bromwich (37.9) and Bracknell (38).
The towns around Halifax 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | 88,111 | — | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Sowerby Bridge | 4,483 | 2.2 mi | 41.7 | 18% | 30% |
| Luddenden Foot | 2,148 | 2.3 mi | 44.9 | 17% | 29% |
| Shelf and Northowram | 9,191 | 3 mi | 48.7 | 24% | 25% |
| Queensbury | 9,707 | 3.1 mi | 41.3 | 17% | 30% |
| Elland | 15,788 | 3.2 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Holywell Green and Stainland | 2,799 | 3.6 mi | 40.5 | 14% | 32% |
| Brighouse | 33,159 | 4 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 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 Halifax’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. Halifax’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 91,805 people in 2021, against 88,111 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 Halifax’s residents
What is the population of Halifax?
The 2021 Census counted 88,111 people in Halifax’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 95,400 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Halifax?
The median age was 37.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 89% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Halifax?
70% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Halifax?
37% said they had no religion and 36% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 20% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Halifax good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in King Cross (45% of households). Schools are on Halifax’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.