Photo: Jonathan Clitheroe · CC BY-SA 2.044% of residents said they have no religion, a share 72% of UK towns don’t reach
The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 14,873 residents and 6,486 households in Shepshed. The census found that just over a third of households live in a detached house here. Half of the town’s residents are under 43.2, younger than in three in five UK towns.
Faster growth than 76% of UK towns: Shepshed changed by +15% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shepshed’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,500 people in 2011; 15,500 in 2024.
Between mid-2020 and mid-2021 the population rose by 350, its biggest one-year gain. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+40%) and the 45 to 64 least (−2%).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 22% in Shepshed, more than in 52% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.1% of residents. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Markfield, the oldest of Leicestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 30%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Shepshed, 43.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 66% of UK towns: 4.5%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Only 26% of households in Shepshed have dependent children
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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 2.2% in Shepshed and 4.3% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. For Shepshed, the census puts one-person households at 30%.
Below 61% of UK towns: 8.9% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
18% of households live in a terraced house; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. The usual figure: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 14%.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 62% of UK towns: 5.3%
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 16% of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93% in Shepshed, more than in 58% 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 Shepshed · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 46% across England’s towns, 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian here. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.9%). Across the comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
More adults who have never married than 63% of UK towns: 34%
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 382 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; in Shepshed, 47%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 27% of adults in Shepshed (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 18% (England’s towns: 18%).
Among 384 UK towns of 10,000 to 20,000 people, the 156th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Shepshed in age: Baglan (43.1), Sleaford (43.2), Attleborough (43.2) and Great Dunmow (43.2).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Shepshed 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepshed | 14,873 | — | 43.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Hathern | 2,351 | 2.4 mi | 46 | 24% | 27% |
| Long Whatton | 1,157 | 2.6 mi | 49.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Loughborough | 64,850 | 3.2 mi | 31.4 | 14% | 25% |
| Whitwick | 10,455 | 3.3 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 23% |
| Sutton Bonington | 2,064 | 4.1 mi | 26 | 17% | 22% |
| Coalville | 21,975 | 4.1 mi | 39.9 | 17% | 30% |
| Woodhouse Eaves | 1,618 | 4.4 mi | 48.6 | 26% | 26% |
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 Shepshed’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. Shepshed’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,873 people in 2021, against 14,873 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 Shepshed’s residents
What is the population of Shepshed?
The 2021 Census counted 14,873 people in Shepshed’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,500 people in mid-2024, 15% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shepshed?
The median age was 43.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 60% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shepshed?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 5.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shepshed?
44% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Shepshed good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shepshed’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.