Photo: El Pollock · CC BY-SA 2.028% of households have no car or van, more than in 92% of UK towns
In Shotton, 38% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, beside 43% across Wales’s towns. Census day 2021: 6,500 residents and 2,839 households locally. Locally, 83% of residents describe themselves as White British. With a median age of 40.9, Shotton is younger than 76% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Shotton’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Shotton at 6,700 in 2011 and 6,400 in 2024, down 4%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 96% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Clwyd
16% of residents were born outside the UK, against 6.6% across Clwyd’s towns and 7.4% across Wales’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (14%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). Where people were born ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A change of −4% since 2011 leaves Shotton behind 96% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shotton’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,700 people in 2011; 6,400 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +14% for the 30 to 44 to −33% for the 16 to 29.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 75% of UK towns: 18%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 7.9% of residents. Typically, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. At 10%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 70% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Shotton, 40.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 4.9% in Shotton, more than in 54% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 17% of Shotton’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 43%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 8.3%. On average, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
Shotton ranks above 83% of UK towns on one-person households: 34%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Clwyd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
At 3.8%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. For comparison, nearly a third of households are one person living alone across Wales’s towns. There are 2.3 people in the average household. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 27% here, fewer than in 53% of UK towns.
14% of households live in a detached house, below 87% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
More households in flats than in 65% of UK towns: 14%. To put it in context, 24% of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns. Households in terraced houses: nearly a quarter of the total.
In Shotton, 16% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 89% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 96% of residents have English as their main language; in Shotton, 87%. The wider picture: 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (14%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%).
7.9% of residents speak Welsh in Shotton
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 497 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 7.9% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 91% of them. No town in Clwyd beats Llanfairfechan (44%).
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 56% of UK towns: 51%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 83% of Shotton · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
1.3% of residents said their religion is Muslim. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43% across Wales’s towns. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 50% of UK towns.
Shotton ranks above 87% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 11%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 38% across Wales’s towns. On average, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 264 residents.
Among adults, 18% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
18% of Shotton’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 31% have none (20%).
Ranked by age, 93rd youngest of 473 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 30.9 in Red Lodge to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Shotton in age: Abercarn (40.8), Whitnash (40.9), East Leake (41) and Hawkinge (41.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Shotton
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shotton | 6,500 | — | 40.9 | 18% | 27% |
| Aston | 2,847 | 0.9 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 27% |
| Connah's Quay | 16,768 | 1.1 mi | 40.4 | 18% | 31% |
| Garden City | 2,427 | 1.4 mi | 34.9 | 11% | 33% |
| Hawarden | 14,284 | 1.5 mi | 46.8 | 23% | 26% |
| Northop Hall | 1,826 | 2.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 29% |
| Buckley | 13,562 | 3.2 mi | 43.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Broughton | 6,532 | 3.7 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Clwyd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Clwyd (or Wales), summed the same way as Shotton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Shotton’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,500 people in 2021, against 6,500 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Shotton’s residents
What is the population of Shotton?
The 2021 Census counted 6,500 people in Shotton’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,400 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shotton?
The median age was 40.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shotton?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 16% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shotton?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Shotton good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Shotton’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Shotton?
497 residents aged 3 and over, 7.9%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.