Shropshire demographics.
Shropshire · Census 2023 · latest available data
A data-driven statistical profile of Shropshire — town populations, census figures, and key demographic indicators drawn from the latest available official data.
Population
67,736,802
World share: 0.84 %
Median age
40.1
Global rank: #21
Urban population
85.5 %
57,900,076 people
Density
280 / km²
People per km²
Fertility rate
1.57
Births per woman
- 01 / Population
Who lives here, and how that is changing.
Headline population counts, density and household structure, with the six-year growth trend.
- Population basics
- Total population
- 67,736,8022023
- Population density
- 280 / km²UK average
- Yearly change
- 0.34 %227,866
- Urban population
- 85.5 %57,900,076
- Net migration
- 165,790Annual net
- World population
- 0.84 %8,045,311,447
- Population trend
Total resident population in thousands. A rising line means net growth from births and inward migration.
- 02 / Age & gender
The shape of the population pyramid.
Age band distribution split by gender, with dependency and vital statistics.
- Age pyramid
Share of the total population in each age band, split by gender - wide middle bands indicate a strong working-age base.
- Vital statistics
- Median age
- 39.4 yrs40.2 yrs
- Dependency ratio
- 58.456.9
- Male
- 49.3%49.0%
- Female
- 50.7%51.0%
- Aged 65+
- 16.4%18.4%
- 03 / Housing & households
Tenure, dwelling type and household composition.
Census 2021 housing indicators for the area, benchmarked against England.
- Tenure & conditions
- Home ownership
- 61.0%62.5%
- Social rented
- 17.0%17.1%
- Private rented
- 22.0%20.4%
- Overcrowded households
- 6.1%8.4%
- No central heating
- 1.3%1.5%
- Property type mix
Composition of the housing stock by build type, as a share of all dwellings.
- Tenure split
How households occupy their homes - the owned versus rented balance drives local market liquidity.
- 04 / Employment & economy
Where the jobs and the output are.
Labour market headlines and the sector composition of local employment.
- Labour market
- Economically active
- 76.2%75.7%
- Unemployed
- 3.4%3.5%
- Full-time employees
- 42.1%41.6%
- Self-employed
- 11.8%12.4%
- Students (economically active)
- 5.6%5.2%
- Retired
- 20.9%21.6%
- Top employment sectors
Share of total employment by industry - a concentrated profile signals exposure to one sector's cycle.
- 05 / Education & qualifications
Attainment and the local skills base.
School performance and the qualification profile of working-age residents.
- Attainment & schools
- Level 4+ qualification
- 40.2%33.9%
- No qualifications
- 16.0%18.1%
- Apprenticeship
- 5.1%5.3%
- Full-time students 16+
- 8.4%7.9%
- Schoolchildren aged 5–15
- 12.6%12.4%
- Qualification levels
Highest qualification held by residents aged 16+. Level 4+ covers degree-level and above.
- 06 / Health & wellbeing
Life expectancy, access and deprivation.
Population health outcomes alongside primary care capacity and deprivation ranking.
- Health indicators
- Very good health
- 48.6%48.5%
- Good health
- 33.1%33.7%
- Bad or very bad health
- 5.8%5.2%
- Disabled (day-to-day limited)
- 18.2%17.3%
- Provides unpaid care
- 9.1%8.9%
- Life expectancy (male)
- 79.1 yrs79.4 yrs
- Life expectancy (female)
- 82.9 yrs83.1 yrs
- Healthy life expectancy
- 62.4 yrs63.1 yrs
- IMD decile
- 5 of 10-
- Deprivation
5
IMD decile out of 10 (1 = most deprived). The United Kingdom shows variation across regions, with pockets of both high affluence and concentrated deprivation.
- 07 / Ethnicity, language & religion
The cultural make-up of the area.
Census-based breakdowns of ethnic group, country of birth, language and religion.
- Ethnic group
Share of residents by broad census ethnic group.
- Religion
Stated religion at the last census, as a share of residents.
- Origin & language
- Born in the UK
- 83.6%83.2%
- Born outside the UK
- 16.4%16.8%
- English as main language
- 94.2%91.1%
- Cannot speak English well
- 1.4%1.9%
- 08 / Transport & commuting
How people move around.
Commuting modes, journey times, car ownership and network connectivity.
- Mode of travel to work
Primary commute mode for working residents, including those who mainly work from home.
- Network & journey times
- Average commute
- 29 min28 min
- No car or van
- 24.0%23.5%
- 2+ cars or vans
- 34.0%33.1%
- Work mainly from home
- 17.0%21.0%
- Car ownership
Households by number of cars or vans available.
— 09 / Political & administrative
Who governs, and how engaged residents are.
Administrative structure, council tax levels, political control and turnout.
— Governance
- Parliamentary constituencies
- 12
- Council type
- Metropolitan / two-tier
- Council tax (Band D)
- £2,148
- Political control
- Labour majority
- General election turnout
- 62.4%
- Local election turnout
- 31.8%
— 10 / Crime & safety
Recorded crime and its composition.
Police.uk recorded offences, normalised per 1,000 residents and split by offence type.
— Headline rates
- Crime rate per 1,000
- 94.689.7
- Police force
- West Yorkshire Police—
- Year-on-year change
- -2.8%-1.4%
— Crime type breakdown
Share of all recorded offences by category over the last 12 months.
— 11 / Environment & climate
Green space, air quality and climate risk.
Environmental quality indicators and exposure to flooding across the area.
— Environmental indicators
- Green space coverage
- 38.4%40.1%
- NO₂ (annual mean)
- 21 µg/m³18 µg/m³
- PM2.5 (annual mean)
- 9.4 µg/m³9.1 µg/m³
- Area at flood risk
- 6.2%8.0%
- Annual rainfall
- 812 mm838 mm
- Sunshine hours
- 1,4101,493
— 12 / UK Cities
Population of major UK cities.
Top 10 UK cities by population, sourced from the latest available census and administrative data.
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 7,556,900 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 984,333 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 864,122 |
| 4 | Nottingham | 729,977 |
| 5 | Sheffield | 685,368 |
| 6 | Bristol | 617,280 |
| 7 | Glasgow | 591,620 |
| 8 | Leicester | 508,916 |
| 9 | Edinburgh | 464,990 |
| 10 | Leeds | 455,123 |
— 12b / County Towns
Town populations within the county.
Built-up area populations across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| # | Town | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shrewsbury | 66,535 | 71,090 | 75,992 |
| 2 | Oswestry (Croesoswallt) | 15,613 | 17,105 | 17,509 |
| 3 | Bridgnorth | 11,518 | 12,315 | 12,182 |
| 4 | Market Drayton | 10,306 | 11,477 | 12,066 |
| 5 | Ludlow | 9,548 | 10,266 | 10,039 |
| 6 | Whitchurch | 8,503 | 9,552 | 9,855 |
| 7 | Shifnal | 6,017 | 6,332 | 8,984 |
| 8 | Albrighton | 6,294 | 6,179 | 6,988 |
| 9 | Wem | 5,142 | 5,870 | 6,285 |
| 10 | Broseley | 5,231 | 5,257 | 5,600 |
| 11 | Bayston Hill | 5,247 | 5,079 | 5,226 |
| 12 | Ellesmere | 3,223 | 3,686 | 4,275 |
| 13 | Church Stretton | 3,321 | 3,698 | 3,576 |
| 14 | Highley | 2,989 | 3,133 | 3,307 |
| 15 | Gobowen | 2,886 | 2,934 | 3,048 |
| 16 | Cleobury Mortimer | 2,273 | 2,711 | 2,962 |
| 17 | St Martin's | 2,275 | 2,471 | 2,693 |
| 18 | Craven Arms | 2,289 | 2,595 | 2,565 |
| 19 | Baschurch | 1,225 | 1,595 | 2,008 |
| 20 | Morda | 1,047 | 1,638 | 1,974 |
| 21 | Pontesbury | 1,676 | 1,873 | 1,966 |
| 22 | Shawbury | 2,061 | 2,208 | 1,959 |
| 23 | Bishop's Castle | 1,630 | 1,893 | 1,847 |
| 24 | Much Wenlock | 1,637 | 1,840 | 1,765 |
| 25 | Minsterley | 1,373 | 1,532 | 1,721 |
| 26 | Whittington | 1,435 | 1,481 | 1,614 |
| 27 | Alveley | 1,648 | 1,578 | 1,507 |
| 28 | Weston Rhyn | 1,215 | 1,385 | 1,382 |
| 29 | Bomere Heath | 1,183 | 1,254 | 1,362 |
| 30 | Hanwood | 1,023 | 1,090 | 1,257 |
| 31 | Prees Higher Heath | 1,151 | 1,163 | 1,224 |
| 32 | Pant | 1,212 | 1,198 | 1,172 |
| 33 | Llanymynech | 579 | 800 | 1,039 |
| 34 | Prees | 814 | 939 | 1,011 |
| 35 | Ruyton-XI-Towns | 911 | 1,040 | 949 |
| 36 | Hinstock | 676 | 861 | 948 |
| 37 | Hadnall | 685 | 688 | 924 |
| 38 | Cockshutt | 676 | 787 | 846 |
| 39 | Woore | 586 | 633 | 826 |
| 40 | Cross Houses | 522 | 746 | 821 |
| 41 | Ternhill | 548 | 731 | 817 |
| 42 | Condover | 699 | 721 | 794 |
| 43 | West Felton | 652 | 720 | 793 |
| 44 | Dorrington | 528 | 613 | 790 |
| 45 | Trefonen | 692 | 777 | 748 |
| 46 | Bucknell | 642 | 717 | 740 |
| 47 | Cressage | 757 | 707 | 733 |
| 48 | Ford | 648 | 697 | 691 |
| 49 | Clun | 642 | 680 | 654 |
| 50 | Cheswardine | 642 | 716 | 647 |
| 51 | Westbury | 640 | 657 | 627 |
| 52 | Claverley | 523 | 549 | 603 |
| 53 | Chirk Bank | 537 | 563 | 575 |
| 54 | Cleehill | 565 | 569 | 573 |
| 55 | Tetchill | 520 | 608 | 544 |
| 56 | Clive | 480 | 530 | 544 |
| 57 | Dudleston Heath | 562 | 545 | 534 |
| 58 | Stanmore | 544 | 585 | 517 |
| 59 | Norton in Hales | 407 | 452 | 504 |
— 13 / English Regions
Regional population comparison.
Population figures for English regions across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| Region | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 4,172,174 | 4,533,222 | 4,880,054 |
| East of England | 5,388,140 | 5,846,965 | 6,335,074 |
| North East England | 2,515,442 | 2,596,886 | 2,647,013 |
| North West England | 6,729,764 | 7,052,177 | 7,417,397 |
| South East England | 8,000,645 | 8,634,750 | 9,278,065 |
| South West England | 4,928,434 | 5,288,935 | 5,701,186 |
| West Midlands | 5,267,308 | 5,601,847 | 5,950,757 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 4,964,833 | 5,283,733 | 5,480,777 |
— Data sources
- ONS — population, age, ethnicity, housing
- Nomis — employment, earnings, qualifications
- Census 2021 (Nomis) — area vs England comparisons
- Police.uk — crime data
- MHCLG — Index of Multiple Deprivation
- Postcodes.io / GeoNames — boundary mapping