Photo: Gammock · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer flats than 86% of UK towns: 4.4% of households
With residents with no religion at 45%, Ratby is ahead of 76% of UK towns on that count. Census day 2021: 4,262 residents and 1,850 households here. Here, 37% of households live in a detached house. On one-person households, Ratby sits lower than 69% of UK towns: 28%.
A +13% change since 2011: Ratby grew faster than 70% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ratby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,500 people in 2011; 5,100 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2023 to mid-2024, the population rose by 230, the most of any year. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+35%) and the 30 to 44 least (+3%).
Younger than 62% of UK towns: half of Ratby is under 42.9
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.1% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 20% here, fewer than in 64% of UK towns. The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 11% in Ratby and 12% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ratby, 42.9. 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.
5% of adults are full-time students, more than in 57% 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, just over a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across Ratby, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Only 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Ratby
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 Ratby, 2.3. Set beside that, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Households with dependent children: 29% of the total.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 68% of UK towns, at 12%
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: 17% here and 24% across England’s towns. About one household in 8 lives without a car or van.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 78% of UK towns: 4%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents whose main language is English: 99% here, more than in nearly four fifths of UK towns. Born abroad and arrived since 2017: nearly a tenth of that group, against 21% across England’s towns.
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 60% 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: 93% of Ratby · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Ratby, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Mixed or multiple (2.3%), Other White (1.9%) and Indian (1.3%).
33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 54% 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
At 9%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%. 90 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
27% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 27% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
166th youngest of 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Ratby in age: Ogmore Vale (42.8), Rudheath (42.9), Pitstone (42.9) and Fenstanton (43).
Older than Ratby: 5 of the 7 towns nearby
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Ratby’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. Ratby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,576 people in 2021, against 4,262 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 Ratby’s residents
What is the population of Ratby?
The 2021 Census counted 4,262 people in Ratby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,100 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ratby?
The median age was 42.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ratby?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ratby?
45% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Ratby good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ratby’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. 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.