← Home / UK / Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester demographics.
Greater Manchester · Census 2023 · latest available data
A data-driven statistical profile of Greater Manchester — town populations, census figures, and key demographic indicators drawn from the latest available official data.
Population
67,736,802
World share: 0.84 %
Median age
40.1
Global rank: #21
Urban population
85.5 %
57,900,076 people
Density
280 / km²
People per km²
Fertility rate
1.57
Births per woman
- 01 / Population
Who lives here, and how that is changing.
Headline population counts, density and household structure, with the six-year growth trend.
- Population basics
- Total population
- 67,736,8022023
- Population density
- 280 / km²UK average
- Yearly change
- 0.34 %227,866
- Urban population
- 85.5 %57,900,076
- Net migration
- 165,790Annual net
- World population
- 0.84 %8,045,311,447
- Population trend
Total resident population in thousands. A rising line means net growth from births and inward migration.
- 02 / Age & gender
The shape of the population pyramid.
Age band distribution split by gender, with dependency and vital statistics.
- Age pyramid
Share of the total population in each age band, split by gender - wide middle bands indicate a strong working-age base.
- Vital statistics
- Median age
- 39.4 yrs40.2 yrs
- Dependency ratio
- 58.456.9
- Male
- 49.3%49.0%
- Female
- 50.7%51.0%
- Aged 65+
- 16.4%18.4%
- 03 / Housing & households
Tenure, dwelling type and household composition.
Census 2021 housing indicators for the area, benchmarked against England.
- Tenure & conditions
- Home ownership
- 61.0%62.5%
- Social rented
- 17.0%17.1%
- Private rented
- 22.0%20.4%
- Overcrowded households
- 6.1%8.4%
- No central heating
- 1.3%1.5%
- Property type mix
Composition of the housing stock by build type, as a share of all dwellings.
- Tenure split
How households occupy their homes - the owned versus rented balance drives local market liquidity.
- 04 / Employment & economy
Where the jobs and the output are.
Labour market headlines and the sector composition of local employment.
- Labour market
- Economically active
- 76.2%75.7%
- Unemployed
- 3.4%3.5%
- Full-time employees
- 42.1%41.6%
- Self-employed
- 11.8%12.4%
- Students (economically active)
- 5.6%5.2%
- Retired
- 20.9%21.6%
- Top employment sectors
Share of total employment by industry - a concentrated profile signals exposure to one sector's cycle.
- 05 / Education & qualifications
Attainment and the local skills base.
School performance and the qualification profile of working-age residents.
- Attainment & schools
- Level 4+ qualification
- 40.2%33.9%
- No qualifications
- 16.0%18.1%
- Apprenticeship
- 5.1%5.3%
- Full-time students 16+
- 8.4%7.9%
- Schoolchildren aged 5–15
- 12.6%12.4%
- Qualification levels
Highest qualification held by residents aged 16+. Level 4+ covers degree-level and above.
- 06 / Health & wellbeing
Life expectancy, access and deprivation.
Population health outcomes alongside primary care capacity and deprivation ranking.
- Health indicators
- Very good health
- 48.6%48.5%
- Good health
- 33.1%33.7%
- Bad or very bad health
- 5.8%5.2%
- Disabled (day-to-day limited)
- 18.2%17.3%
- Provides unpaid care
- 9.1%8.9%
- Life expectancy (male)
- 79.1 yrs79.4 yrs
- Life expectancy (female)
- 82.9 yrs83.1 yrs
- Healthy life expectancy
- 62.4 yrs63.1 yrs
- IMD decile
- 5 of 10-
- Deprivation
5
IMD decile out of 10 (1 = most deprived). The United Kingdom shows variation across regions, with pockets of both high affluence and concentrated deprivation.
- 07 / Ethnicity, language & religion
The cultural make-up of the area.
Census-based breakdowns of ethnic group, country of birth, language and religion.
- Ethnic group
Share of residents by broad census ethnic group.
- Religion
Stated religion at the last census, as a share of residents.
- Origin & language
- Born in the UK
- 83.6%83.2%
- Born outside the UK
- 16.4%16.8%
- English as main language
- 94.2%91.1%
- Cannot speak English well
- 1.4%1.9%
- 08 / Transport & commuting
How people move around.
Commuting modes, journey times, car ownership and network connectivity.
- Mode of travel to work
Primary commute mode for working residents, including those who mainly work from home.
- Network & journey times
- Average commute
- 29 min28 min
- No car or van
- 24.0%23.5%
- 2+ cars or vans
- 34.0%33.1%
- Work mainly from home
- 17.0%21.0%
- Car ownership
Households by number of cars or vans available.
— 09 / Political & administrative
Who governs, and how engaged residents are.
Administrative structure, council tax levels, political control and turnout.
— Governance
- Parliamentary constituencies
- 12
- Council type
- Metropolitan / two-tier
- Council tax (Band D)
- £2,148
- Political control
- Labour majority
- General election turnout
- 62.4%
- Local election turnout
- 31.8%
— 10 / Crime & safety
Recorded crime and its composition.
Police.uk recorded offences, normalised per 1,000 residents and split by offence type.
— Headline rates
- Crime rate per 1,000
- 94.689.7
- Police force
- West Yorkshire Police—
- Year-on-year change
- -2.8%-1.4%
— Crime type breakdown
Share of all recorded offences by category over the last 12 months.
— 11 / Environment & climate
Green space, air quality and climate risk.
Environmental quality indicators and exposure to flooding across the area.
— Environmental indicators
- Green space coverage
- 38.4%40.1%
- NO₂ (annual mean)
- 21 µg/m³18 µg/m³
- PM2.5 (annual mean)
- 9.4 µg/m³9.1 µg/m³
- Area at flood risk
- 6.2%8.0%
- Annual rainfall
- 812 mm838 mm
- Sunshine hours
- 1,4101,493
— 12 / UK Cities
Population of major UK cities.
Top 10 UK cities by population, sourced from the latest available census and administrative data.
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 7,556,900 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 984,333 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 864,122 |
| 4 | Nottingham | 729,977 |
| 5 | Sheffield | 685,368 |
| 6 | Bristol | 617,280 |
| 7 | Glasgow | 591,620 |
| 8 | Leicester | 508,916 |
| 9 | Edinburgh | 464,990 |
| 10 | Leeds | 455,123 |
— 12b / County Towns
Town populations within the county.
Built-up area populations across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| # | Town | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester | 324,165 | 426,300 | 470,411 |
| 2 | Bolton | 159,020 | 169,441 | 184,073 |
| 3 | Stockport | 112,079 | 112,003 | 117,941 |
| 4 | Rochdale | 98,552 | 104,360 | 111,261 |
| 5 | Oldham | 91,064 | 96,026 | 110,718 |
| 6 | Salford | 70,557 | 84,284 | 108,409 |
| 7 | Wythenshawe | 83,566 | 91,805 | 97,635 |
| 8 | Wigan | 76,095 | 79,927 | 81,557 |
| 9 | Bury | 73,521 | 76,232 | 81,101 |
| 10 | Sale | 57,471 | 60,676 | 62,547 |
| 11 | Altrincham | 40,697 | 46,478 | 49,661 |
| 12 | Ashton-under-Lyne | 43,236 | 45,198 | 48,604 |
| 13 | Middleton | 43,248 | 43,618 | 46,620 |
| 14 | Leigh | 41,393 | 43,609 | 45,491 |
| 15 | Urmston | 40,964 | 41,481 | 41,731 |
| 16 | Eccles | 35,946 | 36,830 | 41,122 |
| 17 | Chadderton | 33,321 | 35,116 | 37,614 |
| 18 | Denton | 36,320 | 36,066 | 35,989 |
| 19 | Hyde | 31,408 | 33,618 | 35,890 |
| 20 | Prestwich | 28,883 | 29,872 | 31,507 |
| 21 | Radcliffe | 28,209 | 29,133 | 31,107 |
| 22 | Heywood | 28,144 | 28,037 | 29,726 |
| 23 | Farnworth | 25,462 | 26,732 | 28,759 |
| 24 | Stretford | 25,141 | 27,157 | 28,012 |
| 25 | Atherton | 24,045 | 26,415 | 27,562 |
| 26 | Stalybridge | 24,232 | 25,863 | 26,831 |
| 27 | Ashton-in-Makerfield | 27,703 | 27,511 | 26,380 |
| 28 | Little Hulton | 22,356 | 22,665 | 25,834 |
| 29 | Golborne | 23,374 | 24,440 | 25,553 |
| 30 | Cheadle Hulme | 23,768 | 23,530 | 24,791 |
| 31 | Hindley | 22,559 | 24,159 | 24,492 |
| 32 | Droylsden | 23,172 | 23,034 | 23,915 |
| 33 | Orrell | 21,470 | 22,701 | 23,416 |
| 34 | Royton | 23,245 | 23,448 | 22,999 |
| 35 | Swinton | 22,389 | 22,750 | 22,882 |
| 36 | Reddish | 21,982 | 21,633 | 22,203 |
| 37 | Whitefield | 21,476 | 21,595 | 22,179 |
| 38 | Westhoughton | 20,224 | 21,911 | 21,963 |
| 39 | Old Trafford | 16,881 | 19,596 | 21,443 |
| 40 | Dukinfield | 20,522 | 20,913 | 21,151 |
| 41 | Horwich | 18,508 | 19,278 | 20,690 |
| 42 | Hazel Grove | 19,679 | 19,887 | 20,170 |
| 43 | Failsworth | 19,560 | 19,127 | 19,960 |
| 44 | Irlam | 18,725 | 19,509 | 19,712 |
| 45 | Walkden | 16,284 | 16,668 | 18,684 |
| 46 | Shaw | 19,335 | 18,815 | 18,245 |
| 47 | Clifton | 15,936 | 16,732 | 17,750 |
| 48 | Bramhall | 17,805 | 17,461 | 17,184 |
| 49 | Ramsbottom | 17,104 | 17,128 | 17,067 |
| 50 | Bredbury (/ Woodley) | 17,382 | 17,000 | 17,041 |
| 51 | Hale | 15,009 | 16,304 | 16,720 |
| 52 | Tyldesley | 15,364 | 15,863 | 16,204 |
| 53 | Cheadle | 13,374 | 13,467 | 14,436 |
| 54 | Audenshaw | 11,850 | 11,700 | 13,396 |
| 55 | Marple | 13,109 | 12,686 | 12,980 |
| 56 | Standish | 11,369 | 11,645 | 12,931 |
| 57 | Lees | 12,217 | 12,718 | 12,630 |
| 58 | Little Lever | 12,573 | 12,803 | 12,525 |
| 59 | Ince-in-Makerfield | 10,680 | 12,243 | 12,184 |
| 60 | Littleborough | 12,263 | 12,370 | 12,154 |
| 61 | Worsley | 11,476 | 11,225 | 11,959 |
| 62 | Mossley | 9,714 | 10,772 | 11,407 |
| 63 | Uppermill | 10,414 | 11,187 | 11,191 |
| 64 | Kearsley | 10,555 | 11,222 | 11,121 |
| 65 | Romiley | 10,785 | 10,732 | 10,905 |
| 66 | Platt Bridge (/ Abram) | 9,013 | 10,315 | 10,593 |
| 67 | Milnrow | 9,318 | 9,474 | 9,227 |
| 68 | Gatley | 8,243 | 8,557 | 9,148 |
| 69 | Partington | 7,327 | 7,912 | 7,706 |
| 70 | Hattersley | 5,136 | 5,348 | 6,962 |
| 71 | Bowdon | 6,079 | 6,281 | 6,106 |
| 72 | Blackrod | 5,138 | 4,774 | 5,345 |
| 73 | Shevington | 5,292 | 5,114 | 5,318 |
| 74 | Appley Bridge (Shevington Vale) | 5,155 | 5,197 | 5,135 |
| 75 | Aspull | 4,977 | 4,899 | 4,936 |
| 76 | Astley | 4,207 | 4,112 | 4,734 |
| 77 | Marple Bridge | 4,774 | 4,732 | 4,702 |
| 78 | High Lane | 4,772 | 4,608 | 4,617 |
| 79 | Rhodes | 2,689 | 2,626 | 2,969 |
| 80 | Shevington Moor | 2,421 | 2,270 | 2,718 |
| 81 | Newhey | 2,616 | 2,699 | 2,709 |
| 82 | Higher Folds | 2,263 | 2,359 | 2,449 |
| 83 | Wardley | 2,339 | 2,298 | 2,296 |
| 84 | Delph | 2,052 | 2,224 | 2,283 |
| 85 | Bickershaw | 1,695 | 1,573 | 2,282 |
| 86 | Woodford | 1,229 | 1,265 | 2,243 |
| 87 | Wardle | 2,010 | 2,033 | 2,113 |
| 88 | Wingates | 1,698 | 1,834 | 1,935 |
| 89 | Pendlebury | 446 | 1,244 | 1,768 |
| 90 | Summit | 1,544 | 1,568 | 1,725 |
| 91 | Ainsworth | 1,672 | 1,585 | 1,593 |
| 92 | Dobcross | 1,517 | 1,509 | 1,567 |
| 93 | Trub | 1,395 | 1,411 | 1,389 |
| 94 | Hunger Hill | 1,199 | 1,234 | 1,301 |
| 95 | Woodhouses | 995 | 1,100 | 1,094 |
| 96 | Simister | 1,083 | 1,088 | 1,057 |
| 97 | Broadbottom | 965 | 1,022 | 997 |
| 98 | Land Gate | 901 | 930 | 936 |
| 99 | Bamfurlong | 842 | 954 | 908 |
| 100 | Chew Moor | 789 | 900 | 841 |
| 101 | Worthington | 469 | 756 | 838 |
| 102 | Denshaw | 541 | 543 | 595 |
— 13 / English Regions
Regional population comparison.
Population figures for English regions across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| Region | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 4,172,174 | 4,533,222 | 4,880,054 |
| East of England | 5,388,140 | 5,846,965 | 6,335,074 |
| North East England | 2,515,442 | 2,596,886 | 2,647,013 |
| North West England | 6,729,764 | 7,052,177 | 7,417,397 |
| South East England | 8,000,645 | 8,634,750 | 9,278,065 |
| South West England | 4,928,434 | 5,288,935 | 5,701,186 |
| West Midlands | 5,267,308 | 5,601,847 | 5,950,757 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 4,964,833 | 5,283,733 | 5,480,777 |
— Data sources
- ONS — population, age, ethnicity, housing
- Nomis — employment, earnings, qualifications
- Census 2021 (Nomis) — area vs England comparisons
- Police.uk — crime data
- MHCLG — Index of Multiple Deprivation
- Postcodes.io / GeoNames — boundary mapping