Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 99% of UK towns: 0.8%
Households in detached houses make up 69%, against 21% across England’s towns. In Old Dalby, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British. The village has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 91% of UK towns, at 8.2%. At the 2021 Census Old Dalby was home to 332 people in 133 households.
Old Dalby is older than 75% of UK towns: a median age of 48.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 45–49, with 10% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 23%.
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.
Old Dalby sits below 68% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7.9%)
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 47% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 16% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 11% across England’s towns. Census figures put full-time students at 4.9% in Old Dalby.
In Old Dalby, 34% of households have dependent children, more than in 91% 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.
Across England’s towns, households average 2.4 people; in Old Dalby, 2.5. Against that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 22% in the village.
Only 4.6% of households have no car or van in Old Dalby
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 are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. The benchmark for households without a car or van across England’s towns: 24%.
Residents whose main language is English: 100%, a higher share than 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
4.5% of residents were born outside the UK, against 21% across Leicestershire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.4%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 60%, a higher share than 94% 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: 97% of Old Dalby · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
32% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 21%, a lower share than 99% 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
10 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. As a reference point, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 61%, more than in 99% of UK towns. Unpaid carers: 12% here and 8.7% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Old Dalby counts 44% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 14% have no qualification (18%).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Old Dalby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Dalby | 332 | — | 48.1 | 23% | 34% |
| Asfordby | 2,761 | 3.6 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 25% |
| Wymeswold | 1,364 | 4.3 mi | 47.4 | 21% | 30% |
| Burton on the Wolds | 1,260 | 5.5 mi | 45.9 | 20% | 33% |
| Keyworth | 6,822 | 5.7 mi | 51.2 | 31% | 23% |
| Melton Mowbray | 27,451 | 5.8 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 26% |
| Rearsby | 1,181 | 6 mi | 49.6 | 25% | 28% |
| Sileby | 8,954 | 6.6 mi | 39.6 | 17% | 31% |
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 Old Dalby’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 Old Dalby’s residents
What is the population of Old Dalby?
The 2021 Census counted 332 people in Old Dalby’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Old Dalby?
The median age was 48.1 at the 2021 Census. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Old Dalby?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Old Dalby?
32% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 8.4% didn’t answer.
Is Old Dalby good for families?
34% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Old Dalby’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.