Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 94% of UK towns: 29% of households have no car or van
Set against 24% across England’s towns, nearly a third of households live in a terraced house in Sowerby Bridge. There were 1,943 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 4,483 residents. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 39% in the town. The median age locally is 41.7, lower than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Sowerby Bridge’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Sowerby Bridge at 4,800 in 2011 and 4,500 in 2024, down 6%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 98% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
More with no religion than most
50% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 42% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
Since 2011, Sowerby Bridge has changed by −6%, slower than 98% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sowerby Bridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,800 people in 2011; 4,500 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+5%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−26%).
A young town: 11% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Sowerby Bridge has fewer residents aged 65 and over than 77% of UK towns, at 18%. In Addingham, the oldest of West Yorkshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sowerby Bridge, 41.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 79% of UK towns: 7.3%
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 27% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 31% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Full-time students: 4.8% of the total.
A higher share of one-person households than 67% of UK towns, at 32%
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: 30%, above nearly three quarters of UK towns. For Sowerby Bridge, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 2.5%.
Fewer households in detached houses than 89% of UK towns: 13%
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
Flats are home to 14% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Against that, 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 77% of UK towns: 4%
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
Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 7% (England’s towns: 21%). On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Locally, 99% of residents have English as their main language.
50% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 94% 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: 95% of Sowerby Bridge · West Yorkshire’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and African (0.4%). The usual figure: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in three quarters of UK towns: 95%. Here just over two in five residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across England’s towns is 46%.
Sowerby Bridge: 40% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 90% 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
126 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Across the comparison, 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 25% 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 Sowerby Bridge, 25%, and 23% have none, against 18%.
Among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, the 125th youngest
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 Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Sowerby Bridge in age: Bovingdon (41.6), Bisley (41.6), Bidford-on-Avon (41.7) and Sacriston (41.9).
Older than Sowerby Bridge: 5 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sowerby Bridge | 4,483 | — | 41.7 | 18% | 30% |
| Luddenden Foot | 2,148 | 1.5 mi | 44.9 | 17% | 29% |
| Halifax | 88,111 | 2.2 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 31% |
| Ripponden | 4,775 | 2.6 mi | 44.1 | 18% | 32% |
| Holywell Green and Stainland | 2,799 | 3 mi | 40.5 | 14% | 32% |
| Mytholmroyd | 3,852 | 3 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 24% |
| Elland | 15,788 | 3.7 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 28% |
| Outlane | 1,172 | 3.9 mi | 48.6 | 23% | 27% |
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 Sowerby Bridge’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. Sowerby Bridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,431 people in 2021, against 4,483 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 Sowerby Bridge’s residents
What is the population of Sowerby Bridge?
The 2021 Census counted 4,483 people in Sowerby Bridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,500 people in mid-2024, 6% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sowerby Bridge?
The median age was 41.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 71% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sowerby Bridge?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across West Yorkshire’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sowerby Bridge?
50% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Sowerby Bridge good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sowerby Bridge’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.