Photo: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 20% of households have dependent children in Shap
Where 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, Shap has 97%. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 98% of UK towns. The village had 902 residents in 426 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 28% of residents are 65 or over.
Half of Shap is over 50.4, older than 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails nearly three fifths of UK towns: 9.5%. In Grange-over-Sands, the oldest of Cumbria’s towns by this measure, it is 47%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Shap
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Shap, 22% and 34%. For comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. Full-time students: 5% of the total.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 92% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Cumbria’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 35% of households are one person living alone in Shap.
A larger share of households in terraced houses than 75% of UK towns: 27%
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
In Shap, 23% of households live in a detached house, beside 21% across England’s towns. On the census count, 12% of households have no car or van. Lower than in 56% of UK towns: 9.6% of households live in a flat or apartment. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
2.7% born outside the UK, fewer than in 95% 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 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.3%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. 100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% of UK towns.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 97% of UK towns: 63%
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: 97% of Shap · Cumbria’s towns 95% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (31%), Shap is below 91% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 61% of UK towns: 34%
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
At 44%, married adults and civil partners sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 23 residents. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 57% of UK towns.
22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Shap, 22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 27% have no qualification at all (18%).
Older than Shap: 1 of the 2 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shap | 902 | — | 50.4 | 28% | 20% |
| Appleby-in-Westmorland | 3,233 | 8.1 mi | 51.1 | 29% | 20% |
| Penrith | 16,705 | 9.7 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Cumbria’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Cumbria (or England), summed the same way as Shap’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Shap’s residents
What is the population of Shap?
The 2021 Census counted 902 people in Shap’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Shap?
The median age was 50.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shap?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 95% across Cumbria’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shap?
31% said they had no religion and 63% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Shap good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shap’s schools page.
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). 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.