The Beaumont Arms Public House and Adjoining Barns to East · Photo: John Slater · CC BY-SA 2.0In Kirkheaton, 1.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 98% of UK towns
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. Fewer households in flats than in 93% of UK towns: 3%. Kirkheaton is home to 3,492 residents in 1,549 households, by the 2021 Census. The census found that 11% of residents give unpaid care locally.
A median age of 48.8: Kirkheaton is older than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 26% here and 18% 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+
■ Kirkheaton, 48.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns, at 5.1%
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%.
37% of Kirkheaton’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Here, 4.8% of adults are full-time students.
A lower share of households with dependent children than 71% of UK towns, at 25%
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 in Kirkheaton hold 2.2 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). Census figures put one-person households at 29% locally.
Only 13% of households in Kirkheaton have no car or van
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
Kirkheaton sits close to the norm on households in terraced houses: 24%, about the same as across England’s towns. About one household in 8 lives without a car or van. At 23%, the share of households in detached houses is lower than in 66% of UK towns.
Only 3.4% of Kirkheaton’s residents were born outside the UK
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 9.9% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%). Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns. Locally, 99% of residents have English as their main language.
Residents with no religion make up 42% in Kirkheaton, more than in 55% 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 Kirkheaton · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
2% of residents said their religion is Muslim. Residents with no religion: 37% across England’s towns, for comparison. In Kirkheaton, 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns.
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 72% of UK towns
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
Adults who have never married make up 30%, against 39% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 109 people.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Kirkheaton counts 31% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 17% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 253rd oldest of 749 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Milford on Sea (64.6). Nearest to Kirkheaton in age: St Asaph (48.7), Boroughbridge (48.8), Claydon (48.8) and Great Totham (48.8).
No nearby town is as old as Kirkheaton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkheaton | 3,492 | — | 48.8 | 26% | 25% |
| Lepton | 4,950 | 1.9 mi | 47.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Mirfield | 19,614 | 2 mi | 46 | 24% | 26% |
| Huddersfield | 141,683 | 2.8 mi | 37.7 | 16% | 30% |
| Grange Moor | 1,118 | 2.9 mi | 46.8 | 19% | 30% |
| Kirkburton | 4,033 | 3.3 mi | 46.4 | 23% | 28% |
| Liversedge | 17,519 | 3.7 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Brighouse | 33,159 | 4.2 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 26% |
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 Kirkheaton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Kirkheaton’s residents
What is the population of Kirkheaton?
The 2021 Census counted 3,492 people in Kirkheaton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Kirkheaton?
The median age was 48.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 79% of UK towns. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kirkheaton?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kirkheaton?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Kirkheaton good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Kirkheaton’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). 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.