Photo: Philip Pankhurst · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 97% of UK towns: 7.5%
Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Shobdon, 98%. At the 2021 Census Shobdon was home to 481 people in 185 households. Households in flats: 3.2% of the total. One-person households are rarer here than in 88% of UK towns.
23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 5–9: 8.8% of residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over. With a median age of 45.4, Shobdon is older than 57% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Shobdon, 3% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 99% 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%.
By class, 23% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In Shobdon, 4.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Shobdon households average 2.5 people, larger than in 92% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Herefordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.9%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Locally, 31% of households have dependent children.
Only 11% of households in Shobdon have no car or van
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 share of households in terraced houses is 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. In one household in 9 there is no car or van. 3.2% of households live in a flat, less than in 92% of UK towns; 32% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
1% born outside the UK, fewer than in 99% 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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (0.6%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.2%). Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Shobdon has 100%.
Shobdon sits above 74% of UK towns for residents with no religion (45%)
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: 98% of Shobdon · Herefordshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 48% here and 46% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 86% of UK towns: 54%
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
20 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Shobdon has fewer adults who have never married than just over four fifths of UK towns, at 28%. Compared with 8.7% across England’s towns, one in ten residents give unpaid care here.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 21%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Shobdon’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 28% have none (18%).
Shobdon sits below 5 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shobdon | 481 | — | 45.4 | 23% | 31% |
| Presteigne | 1,929 | 5 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 20% |
| Leominster | 11,206 | 6.3 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 25% |
| Weobley | 1,273 | 6.6 mi | 56.2 | 36% | 20% |
| Kington | 2,423 | 6.7 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 20% |
| Knighton | 2,911 | 9.2 mi | 51.1 | 30% | 19% |
| Ludlow | 10,037 | 11.2 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 18% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Herefordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Herefordshire (or England), summed the same way as Shobdon’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 Shobdon’s residents
What is the population of Shobdon?
The 2021 Census counted 481 people in Shobdon’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Shobdon?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census. 7.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shobdon?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across Herefordshire’s towns. 1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shobdon?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Shobdon good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shobdon’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.