Photo: Mat Fascione · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households in flats than 98% of UK towns, at 1.7%
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Barlestone has 1.4%. The 2021 Census counted 2,563 residents in 1,122 households. Households without a car or van account for 9.6%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 96%, more than in 91% of UK towns.
Barlestone is older than 72% of UK towns: a median age of 47.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: 8.1% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. For Barlestone, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 24%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Barlestone, 47.6. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
4.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 75% 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, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Barlestone.
A lower share of one-person households than 74% of UK towns, at 27%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Leicestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in Barlestone, 25%. One-person households: 30% across England’s towns, for comparison. Each household has 2.3 people on average.
More households in detached houses than 55% of UK towns: 31%
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
On the census count, 20% of households live in a terraced house. 1.7% of households live in a flat, less than in 98% of UK towns; 31% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Only 2.7% of Barlestone’s residents were born outside the UK
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
By its share of residents whose main language is English (99%), Barlestone is above 99% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.6%) and in Africa (0.5%).
Barlestone ranks above 70% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 53%
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: 96% of Barlestone · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Two in five residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.6%). Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 75% of UK towns: 52%
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
Across England’s towns, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care; in Barlestone, 11%. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 73% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 76 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Barlestone’s adults: 25% with a degree-level qualification and 20% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
92nd highest median age among 219 UK towns of 2,500 to 3,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Keele (20.6), the youngest, and St Mary's Bay (60.8), the oldest. Nearest to Barlestone in age: Drybrook (47.5), Barlborough (47.6), Terrington St Clement (47.7) and Boverton (47.8).
Barlestone and its 7 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barlestone | 2,563 | — | 47.6 | 24% | 25% |
| Newbold Verdon | 3,097 | 1.8 mi | 48.2 | 28% | 25% |
| Bagworth | 1,869 | 2.2 mi | 35.7 | 12% | 42% |
| Market Bosworth | 2,104 | 2.4 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 24% |
| Thornton | 1,030 | 2.8 mi | 46.5 | 22% | 28% |
| Ibstock | 6,806 | 3.2 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Ellistown | 2,971 | 3.5 mi | 39.3 | 16% | 33% |
| Desford | 3,817 | 3.5 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 33% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Leicestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Leicestershire (or England), summed the same way as Barlestone’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 Barlestone’s residents
What is the population of Barlestone?
The 2021 Census counted 2,563 people in Barlestone’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Barlestone?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Barlestone?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Barlestone?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Barlestone good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Barlestone’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.