War Memorial · Photo: Peter Broster · CC BY-SA 4.0A young town: 16% of residents are 15 to 24
Households average 2.7 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 25%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Oadby counted 24,039 residents and 8,342 households at the 2021 Census. The share of households with dependent children stands at 33%.
What the Census says about Oadby’s people
A student town
The 2021 Census counted 2,703 full-time students aged 16 and over, 14% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 98% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
More born abroad than most towns
30% of residents were born outside the UK, against 21% across Leicestershire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (15%) and in Africa (10%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
65% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 99% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are Indian (38%), Pakistani (7.1%) and Mixed or multiple (3.6%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
A town people move to
14% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
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.
Oadby changed by +7% from 2011 to 2024, behind 52% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oadby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 23,800 people in 2011; 25,500 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 30 to 44 changed most (+19%) and 16 to 29 least (−8%). Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 650 people.
Oadby is younger than 76% of UK towns: a median age of 40.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 15–19: 10% of residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 66% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oadby, 40.9. 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.
A student town: 14% of adults study full-time
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%.
Leave the students aside and Oadby’s other adults differ from England’s: 43% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. Against that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On residents who moved in within the year, Oadby sits higher than 95% of UK towns: 14%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person households make up 25% in Oadby, less than in 86% of UK towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.5%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 94% of UK towns: 7.4%
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
47% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). As a yardstick, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. Households in flats: 7.9% of the total. Oadby has fewer households without a car or van than 62% of UK towns, at 13%.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 98% of UK towns: 30%
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 35%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By its share of residents whose main language is English (85%), Oadby is below 97% of UK towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the Middle East and Asia (15%) and in Africa (10%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 18%, a lower share than 99% 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: 35% of Oadby · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 21%. At 35%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is lower than in 99% of UK towns. Against that, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Oadby: 53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 82% of UK towns
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
529 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Few places have so few adults who have never married: 32% here, fewer than in 53% of UK towns. To put it in context, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns: 9.4%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 40%
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 Oadby, 15%, while 40% hold one at degree level (34%). For 20%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 35 in Oadby North to 44 in Oadby South & West
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Oadby South & West is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Oadby North the youngest (median age 35). Students cluster in Oadby North, where 28% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Oadby East (37% of households).
248 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people: this is the 69th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 55.6 in Brixham. Nearest to Oadby in age: Caterham (40.8), Longbenton (40.9), Royston (40.9) and Ashford (40.9).
Oadby and its 7 nearest towns: 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oadby | 24,039 | — | 40.9 | 20% | 33% |
| Wigston | 34,728 | 2 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 28% |
| Great Glen | 4,062 | 2.3 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 31% |
| Leicester | 406,612 | 3.4 mi | 34.3 | 13% | 35% |
| Houghton on the Hill | 1,738 | 3.7 mi | 48.3 | 28% | 28% |
| Countesthorpe | 7,674 | 4.2 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Fleckney | 4,926 | 4.5 mi | 46.2 | 21% | 29% |
| Blaby and Whetstone | 14,072 | 4.5 mi | 42.5 | 21% | 30% |
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.
- “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 Oadby’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. Oadby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 24,039 people in 2021, against 24,039 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 Oadby’s residents
What is the population of Oadby?
The 2021 Census counted 24,039 people in Oadby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 25,500 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oadby?
The median age was 40.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 16% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
Is Oadby a student town?
Yes: 14% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (2,703 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Oadby North, 28% of adults were students.
How diverse is Oadby?
35% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 30% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oadby?
18% said they had no religion and 25% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 21% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Oadby good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Oadby East (37% of households). Schools are on Oadby’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.