Photo: Ian Rob · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of UK towns: 0.4% of households live in a flat or apartment
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Leire, 19%. The village had 636 residents and 249 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 51.2. The census found that nearly a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership locally. 27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 81% of UK towns.
A median age of 51.2: Leire is older than 90% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 6.8% of residents, against 12% across England’s towns. In Markfield, the oldest of Leicestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 30%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 86% of UK towns, at 3.9%
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 just over two in five adults here, routine and semi-routine work 18% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Larger households than 95% of UK towns: 2.6 people on average
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.
Households with dependent children make up 25%, against 29% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 6.8% of the total.
76% of households live in a detached house, more than in 99% 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
Households in terraced houses: 5.6%, below 97% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%. Every 18th household or so has no car or van.
100% of residents have English as their main language, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
3.4% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.3%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).
Leire ranks above 90% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 96%
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 Leire · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Leire has 52%. Across England’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 73%. Here, 44% of residents said they have no religion.
Leire sits above 94% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (57%)
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
Some 9 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 44% across England’s towns. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.7% here, fewer than in 67% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 39% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Leire, 12%, while 39% hold one at degree level (34%).
Every nearby town is younger than Leire
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leire | 636 | — | 51.2 | 27% | 25% |
| Broughton Astley | 9,649 | 1.5 mi | 42.9 | 18% | 31% |
| Ullesthorpe | 1,162 | 1.7 mi | 46.9 | 21% | 26% |
| Sharnford | 1,066 | 3 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 25% |
| Sapcote | 3,266 | 3.1 mi | 44.4 | 25% | 27% |
| Gilmorton | 1,239 | 3.3 mi | 47.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Lutterworth | 10,519 | 3.3 mi | 44.3 | 22% | 29% |
| Croft | 1,748 | 3.5 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 24% |
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 Leire’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 Leire’s residents
What is the population of Leire?
The 2021 Census counted 636 people in Leire’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Leire?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 6.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Leire?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Leire?
44% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 3.5% didn’t answer.
Is Leire good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Leire’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.