Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
1,669
Population growth
0.2%
Gender ratio
0.97 male to female
english main language
89%
birth rate
13.0
death rate
10.0
Major religion
60% Christian
Urbanisation
99%
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Oldham is 237,628 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Oldham's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.2% per year. Oldham covers an area of 142 square kilometres (55 square miles) and has a population density of 1,669 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Oldham is predominantly white (78%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 22% of the population.
The median average age in Oldham in 2019 was 37.2, with over 18s representing 77.6% 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 Oldham was approximately 222,240 or 99%, while the rural population was around 2,657 or 1%.
The largest religious group in Oldham is Christians who account for 60% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 89.5% of people in Oldham, and spoken either well or very well by 7% of the remaining population. 2.9% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.7% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Oldham Population
The population of Oldham is 237,628 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Oldham grew by an estimated 518 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 12,471.
Oldham's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.2%, which is 0.4% lower than the average population growth rate in Oldham for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.6%).
Oldham covers an area of 142 square kilometres (55 square miles) and has a population density of 1,669 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 88 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 Oldham's 237,628 population, while females made up 50.7% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 97.401 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 Oldham, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 184,361.
Oldham's age structure shows the working-age population to be 145,944 which is 61.4% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 22.4% of the population, and over 65s represent 16.2% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 62.9% to 59.6%.
Oldham's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Oldham was 37.2 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 38.2 years, and the average male is 36.1 years.
Of the Oldham population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 1.6 to 1.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 77.0 | 81.0 | 79.0 |
| 01-04 | 76.6 | 80.4 | 78.5 |
| 05-09 | 72.7 | 76.6 | 74.7 |
| 10-14 | 67.8 | 71.6 | 69.7 |
| 15-19 | 62.8 | 66.6 | 64.7 |
| 20-24 | 57.9 | 61.6 | 59.8 |
| 25-29 | 53.1 | 56.7 | 54.9 |
| 30-34 | 48.3 | 51.7 | 50.0 |
| 35-39 | 43.5 | 46.8 | 45.2 |
| 40-44 | 38.6 | 42.0 | 40.3 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Oldham is predominantly white (77.5%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 22.5% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Oldham accounting for 19.2% of the population.
2,797 or 1% of the Oldham 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 Oldham were 3.4 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 7.4, and 7.1 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Oldham is the 264 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.6 and were 7.1 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.9 and was 7.4 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Oldham is Christians, accounting for 59.7% of the population.
Oldham has a Muslim population of 39,879 which is 16.8% 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