Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
754
Population growth
0.5%
Gender ratio
0.97 male to female
english main language
98%
birth rate
10.7
death rate
11.4
Major religion
68% Christian
Urbanisation
90%
View trend
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Barnsley is 248,071 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Barnsley's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.5% per year. Barnsley covers an area of 329 square kilometres (127 square miles) and has a population density of 754 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Barnsley is predominantly white (98%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 2% of the population.
The median average age in Barnsley in 2019 was 42.4, with over 18s representing 81.3% of the population. The sex ratio was 97.4 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Barnsley was approximately 207,048 or 90%, while the rural population was around 24,173 or 10%.
The largest religious group in Barnsley is Christians who account for 68% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 98.1% of people in Barnsley, and spoken either well or very well by 1% of the remaining population. 0.4% reported having poor English language skills.
Main page: Barnsley Population
The population of Barnsley is 248,071 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Barnsley grew by an estimated 1,205 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 16,206.
Barnsley's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.5%, which is 0.3% lower than the average population growth rate in Barnsley for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.8%).
Barnsley covers an area of 329 square kilometres (127 square miles) and has a population density of 754 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 49 people per km2 over the past decade.
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According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS in 2019, males account for 49.3% of Barnsley's 248,071 population, while females made up 50.7% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 97.39 males to every 100 females in 2011. In England as a whole, the gender ratio was 98 males to every 100 females in 2011.
Age statistics collected by the ONS show the adult population of Barnsley, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 201,737.
Barnsley's age structure shows the working-age population to be 153,077 which is 61.7% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 18.7% of the population, and over 65s represent 19.6% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 64.1% to 59.9%.
Barnsley's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Barnsley was 42.4 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 43.2 years, and the average male is 41.6 years.
Of the Barnsley population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.4 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Barnsley is 80 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Barnsley has a life expectancy of 81 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 78 years. Compare life expectancy by area.
As a comparison, in England as a whole, current life expectancy at birth is 81 years, for females that rises to 83 years and for males it falls to 79 years.
The life expectancy for someone born in Barnsley has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 77 years to a life expectancy of 80 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 77.7 | 81.4 | 79.6 |
| 01-04 | 77.0 | 80.7 | 78.9 |
| 05-09 | 73.1 | 76.7 | 74.9 |
| 10-14 | 68.1 | 71.8 | 69.9 |
| 15-19 | 63.1 | 66.8 | 65.0 |
| 20-24 | 58.2 | 61.8 | 60.0 |
| 25-29 | 53.4 | 56.9 | 55.2 |
| 30-34 | 48.7 | 52.0 | 50.4 |
| 35-39 | 43.9 | 47.1 | 45.5 |
| 40-44 | 39.2 | 42.4 | 40.8 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Barnsley is predominantly white (97.9%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 2.1% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Barnsley accounting for 0.7% of the population.
1,221 or 1% of the Barnsley population are black according to the latest 2011 census.
In England more broadly the portion of the population that is white is 85.4%. 7.8% are Asian and 3.5% are Black.
Estimates of personal wellbeing in the UK are published by the ONS annually, with scores for anxiety, happiness, life satisfaction, and feeling that life is worthwhile. Overall scores are based on surveying a representative sample of the population and are scored out of 10 (.e.g for happiness 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is 'completely happy').
Levels of reported Anxiety in Barnsley were 3.3 in 2012 and 2.9 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.5, and 7.1 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Barnsley is the 205 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.7 and were 7.3 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 8.0 and was 7.5 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Barnsley is Christians, accounting for 68.5% of the population.
Barnsley has a Muslim population of 945 which is 0.4% of the population.
Compared to England as a whole, in England circa 59% of the population is Christian, 5% is Muslim, 2% is Hindu, and Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews each is around 1%. The remainder is split between people with no religion and those who decided not to identify a religion.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2021. Data sources: ONS Local statistics