Of Flixton's 4,530 households 83.1 per cent are listed as owner occupied. Most houses in the area are semi-detached; the rest are detached, terraced or flats. Average household income for 2010 was £39,231. According to the 2001 census, of the 6,812 people aged 16–74, 46.1 per cent were employed on a full-time basis, 11.2 per cent part-time, and 7.3 per cent self-employed. 1.8 per cent were unemployed and seeking work, while 16.5 per cent were retired. Flixton Band, formed in 1877, played at the official opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, attended by Queen Victoria. It was disbanded in 1933 but reformed in 1967, since when it has performed on television and radio. Local artist Frances Lennon, born in nearby Stretford, moved with her husband to Flixton in the late 1970s. Following his death she became a full-time painter, releasing several books including "A Trafford Childhood" (1986) and "A Manchester Childhood" (2001). Dubbed "the people's artist", she was the official artist for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and produced a special book of paintings relating to games and sports. Flixton is in the Church of England Diocese of Manchester and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Historically church life has centred around the Grade II* listed 12th-century St Michaels Church, built on raised land close to the centre of Flixton village. For about 500 years the church was attached to Lichfield Cathedral. Another Church of England place of worship, St John's Church, can be found on Irlam Road. Flixton's Catholic Community worships at St Monica's Church on Woodsend Road South. The parish was founded in 1950 and the church built from 1968 to 1969. Flixton House, a late 18th-century Grade II listed building set in Flixton Park and Gardens, was the focus of one of the first footpath battles in England after its owner, Ralph Wright, in 1824 closed several footpaths crossing his estate. Local residents accepted the closures, but Wright also attempted to change the route of footpaths not on his land, ploughing the entrance to one and sowing it with oats. A local farmer, Samuel Wood, objected to Wright's tactics and removed each obstruction, restoring the footpath.