| Highest | Lowest | |
| Year. | No. daily | No. daily |
| 1876 | 7,687 | 7,058 |
| 1877 | 8,240 | 7,377 |
| 1878 | 8,877 | 7,242 |
| 1879 | 14,651 | 8,829 |
| 1880 | 13,195 | 7,598 |
| 1881 | 11,064 | 7,188 |
| 1882 | 9,658 | 7,462 |
| 1883 | 8,347 | 7,630 |
Not long ago it was said that among the inmates of the Workhouse were several women of 10 to 45 who had spent all their lives there, not even knowing their way into the town.
Population.—Hutton "calculated" that about the year 750 there would be 3,000 inhabitants residing in and close to Birmingham. Unless a very rapid thinning process was going on after that date he must have been a long way out of his reckoning, for the Domesday Book gives but 63 residents in 1085 for Birmingham, Aston, and Edgbaston. In 1555 we find that 37 baptisms, 15 weddings, and 27 deaths were registered at St. Martin's, the houses not being more than 700, nor the occupiers over 3,500 in number. In 1650, it is said, there were 15 streets, about 900 houses, and 5,472 inhabitants. If the writer who made that calculation was correct, the next 80 years must have been "days of progress" indeed, for in 1700 the town is said to have included 28 streets, about 100 courts and alleys, 2,504 houses, one church, one chapel, and two meeting-houses, with 15,032 inhabitants. In 1731 there were 55 streets, about 150 courts and alleys, 3,719 houses, two churches, one chapel, four Dissenting meeting-houses, and 23,286 inhabitants. The remaining figures, being taken from census returns and other reliable authorities, are more satisfactory.
| Year. | Inhabitants. | Houses. |
| 1741 | 24,660 | 4,114 |
| 1773 | 30,804 | 7,369 |
| 1778 | 48,252 | 8,042 |
| 1781 | 50,295 | 8,382 |
| 1791 | 73,653 | 12,681 |
| 1801 | 78,760 | 16,659 |
| 1811 | 85,755 | 19,096 |
| 1821 | 106,721 | 21,345 |
| 1831 | 142,251 | 29,397 |
| 1841 | 182,922 | 36,238 |
| 1851 | 232,841 | 48,894 |
| 1861 | 296,076 | 62,708 |
| 1871 | 343,787 | 77,409 |
| 1881 | 400,774 | 84,263 |
The inhabitants are thus divided as to sexes:
| Year. | Males. | Females. | Totals. |
| 1861 | 143,996 | 152,080 | 296,076 |
| 1871 | 167,636 | 176,151 | 343,787 |
| 1881 | 194,540 | 206,234 | 400,774 |
The increase during the ten years in the several parts of the borough shows:
|
Birmingham parish. |
Edgbaston parish. |
Part of Aston in borough. | Totals. | |
| 1881 | 246,352 | 22,778 | 131,644 | 400,774 |
| 1871 | 231,015 | 17,442 | 95,330 | 343,787 |
| Increase | 15,337 | 5,336 | 36,314 | 156,987 |
These figures, however, are not satisfactorily correct, as they simply give the totals for the borough, leaving out many persons who, though residing outside the boundaries are to all intents and purposes Birmingham people; and voluminous as census papers usually are, it is difficult from those of 1871 to arrive at the proper number, the districts not being subdivided sufficiently. Thus, in the following table Handsworth includes Soho and Perry Barr, Harborne parish includes Smethwick, Balsall Heath is simply the Local included district, while King's Norton Board is Moseley, Selly Oak, &c.
| Places. | Inhabitants. |
| Aston Parish | 139,998 |
| Aston Manor | 33,948 |
| Balsall Heath | 13,615 |
| Handsworth | 16,042 |
| Harborne Parish | 22,263 |
| Harborne Township | 5,105 |
| King's Norton Parish | 21,845 |
| Yardley Parish | 5,360 |