 At the 2011 census, the village was located in the ward of Birstall & Birkenshaw, which had a population 16,298.The name of the village derives from Old English and means "Birch Wood".Despite being in the Bradford conurbation, its Bradford postal address and its mostly Bradford dialling code (most of the village uses the 01274 phone number, but part uses the 0113 Leeds prefix), Birkenshaw forms part of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough.