Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
1,480
Population growth
0.4%
Gender ratio
0.97 male to female
english main language
85%
birth rate
12.9
death rate
9.3
Major religion
46% Christian
Urbanisation
93%
View trend
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Bradford is 542,128 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Bradford's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.4% per year. Bradford covers an area of 366 square kilometres (141 square miles) and has a population density of 1,480 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Bradford is predominantly white (67%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 33% of the population.
The median average age in Bradford in 2019 was 36.5, with over 18s representing 76.4% 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 Bradford was approximately 486,624 or 93%, while the rural population was around 35,828 or 7%.
The largest religious group in Bradford is Christians who account for 46% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 85.3% of people in Bradford, and spoken either well or very well by 10% of the remaining population. 3.9% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.9% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Bradford Population
The population of Bradford is 542,128 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Bradford grew by an estimated 2,352 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 19,013.
Bradford's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.4%, which is 0.0% higher than the average population growth rate in Bradford for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.4%).
Bradford covers an area of 366 square kilometres (141 square miles) and has a population density of 1,480 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 52 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 Bradford's 542,128 population, while females made up 50.7% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 97.362 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 Bradford, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 414,373.
Bradford's age structure shows the working-age population to be 332,559 which is 61.3% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 23.6% of the population, and over 65s represent 15.1% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 63.3% to 61.1%.
Bradford's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Bradford was 36.5 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 37.2 years, and the average male is 35.7 years.
Of the Bradford population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.1 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Bradford is 79 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Bradford has a life expectancy of 81 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 77 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 Bradford has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 77 years to a life expectancy of 79 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 77.4 | 81.4 | 79.4 |
| 01-04 | 77.0 | 80.9 | 79.0 |
| 05-09 | 73.1 | 77.0 | 75.1 |
| 10-14 | 68.1 | 72.0 | 70.1 |
| 15-19 | 63.2 | 67.1 | 65.2 |
| 20-24 | 58.3 | 62.1 | 60.2 |
| 25-29 | 53.5 | 57.2 | 55.4 |
| 30-34 | 48.6 | 52.3 | 50.5 |
| 35-39 | 43.8 | 47.5 | 45.7 |
| 40-44 | 39.1 | 42.7 | 40.9 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Bradford is predominantly white (67.4%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 32.6% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Bradford accounting for 26.8% of the population.
9,267 or 2% of the Bradford 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 Bradford were 3.3 in 2012 and 3.0 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.5, and 7.2 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Bradford is the 218 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.7 and were 7.2 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.8 and was 7.6 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Bradford is Christians, accounting for 45.9% of the population.
Bradford has a Muslim population of 129,041 which is 23.8% 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