Photo: michael ely · CC BY-SA 2.0Shaw sits below 95% of UK towns for residents with no religion (29%)
The share of households in terraced houses is 34%, against 24% across England’s towns. Few places have so few households in detached houses: 14% here, fewer than in 87% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Shaw’s population at 18,249, in 8,220 households. Across Shaw, 26% of households have dependent children.
What the Census says about Shaw’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Shaw at 19,700 in 2011 and 19,300 in 2024, down 2%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 92% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, 92% of UK towns grew faster than Shaw: −2%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shaw’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 19,700 people in 2011; 19,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+22%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−19%).
23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 61% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of Shaw’s residents are over 45.5, older than in 58% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. On the census count, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. In High Lane, the oldest of Greater Manchester’s towns by this measure, it is 37%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Shaw, 45.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6.3% in Shaw, less than in 95% 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 take in 29% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 28% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Full-time students: 4.9% of the total. Typically, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A higher share of one-person households than 77% of UK towns, at 33%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Greater Manchester’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 1.9%, Shaw is behind 73% of UK towns on that count. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. On average, 2.2 people share a household.
More car-free households than 85% of UK towns: 24% in Shaw
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
The census found that 11% of households live in a flat or apartment in Shaw. One household in 4 has no car or van.
5.6% of residents were born outside the UK, below 58% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English make up 97%, against 90% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 62%, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
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: 90% of Shaw · Greater Manchester’s towns 71% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Bangladeshi (2.5%), Other White (2.5%) and Mixed or multiple (1.9%). As a yardstick, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Lower than in 63% of UK towns: 90% of residents describe themselves as White British.
More unpaid carers than 79% of UK towns: 11% of residents
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
Shaw sits close to the norm on married adults and civil partners: 44%, about the same as across England’s towns. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns. The census found that 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in the town.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 25% of adults in Shaw, 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 37 in Royton East & Cowlishaw to 49 in Shaw & Crompton
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Shaw & Crompton is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Royton East & Cowlishaw the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Royton East & Cowlishaw (32% of households).
Of 325 UK towns its size (13,000 to 25,000 people), the 116th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Shaw in age: Tadley (45.4), Hailsham (45.4), Cirencester (45.5) and Davenham (45.6).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Shaw
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Greater Manchester’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Greater Manchester (or England), summed the same way as Shaw’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. Shaw’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,124 people in 2021, against 18,249 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 Shaw’s residents
What is the population of Shaw?
The 2021 Census counted 18,249 people in Shaw’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,300 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shaw?
The median age was 45.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shaw?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 71% across Greater Manchester’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shaw?
29% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.8% were Muslim and 4.6% didn’t answer.
Is Shaw good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Royton East & Cowlishaw (32% of households). Schools are on Shaw’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.