Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Worcester is younger than 83% of UK towns: a median age of 39.5
Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 82% of UK towns. Worcester’s 45,363 households held 105,439 residents at the 2021 Census. The census found that a fifth of households have no car or van locally. Just over a fifth of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%).
A growing town: +9% since 2011, faster than 59% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Worcester’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 100,100 people in 2011; 109,600 in 2024.
The biggest one-year rise was mid-2015 to mid-2016, 1,770 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+32%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (+1%).
13% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 17% here and 18% across England’s towns. The largest age band is 30–34: 7.2% of residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Worcester, 39.5. 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.
Full-time students: 8.6%, a higher share than 95% 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%.
By class, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 25% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%. Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Worcester: 4.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, above 94% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Worcestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
One-person households make up 32%, against 30% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Here, 27% of households have dependent children.
A smaller share of households in detached houses than 67% of UK towns: 22%
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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 22% of households live in a terraced house here. Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house.
In Worcester, 13% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 82% 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
Set against 90% across England’s towns, 92% of residents have English as their main language in Worcester. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (6.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.4%).
Residents with no religion make up 40% in Worcester, less than in 59% 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: 83% of Worcester · Worcestershire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 49% in Worcester and 46% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (7.3%), Pakistani (2.5%) and Mixed or multiple (2.2%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 42% in Worcester, less than in 84% 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
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.2%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a higher share than in 90% of UK towns. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 2,438.
34% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 34% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 17% hold no qualification (18%). A levels are the highest qualification of 18%, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 32 in Drakes Broughton & Norton to 47 in Northwick
The city’s 16 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Northwick is the oldest area, with 25% aged 65 or over; Drakes Broughton & Norton the youngest (median age 32). Students cluster in Henwick, where 30% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Fernhill Heath & Ombersley (47% of households).
32nd oldest of 72 UK towns of 74,000 to 142,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Salford (29.8), the youngest, and Southport (48.4), the oldest. Nearest to Worcester in age: Gillingham (39.3), Scunthorpe (39.5), Gloucester (39.5) and Grimsby (39.7).
The towns around Worcester 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester | 105,439 | — | 39.5 | 17% | 27% |
| Rushwick | 1,195 | 2.2 mi | 45.6 | 27% | 32% |
| Norton (Norton Juxta Kempsey) | 1,592 | 2.5 mi | 40 | 11% | 39% |
| Fernhill Heath | 3,295 | 2.6 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 29% |
| Lower Broadheath | 1,889 | 2.7 mi | 48.7 | 25% | 29% |
| Hallow | 1,427 | 2.8 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 26% |
| Collett's Green | 1,542 | 3.3 mi | 45 | 22% | 32% |
| Kempsey | 3,753 | 3.8 mi | 45.2 | 25% | 30% |
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.
- “Worcestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Worcestershire (or England), summed the same way as Worcester’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. Worcester’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 106,215 people in 2021, against 105,439 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 Worcester’s residents
What is the population of Worcester?
The 2021 Census counted 105,439 people in Worcester’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 109,600 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Worcester?
The median age was 39.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 83% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Worcester?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Worcestershire’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Worcester?
40% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Worcester good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Fernhill Heath & Ombersley (47% of households). Schools are on Worcester’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.