Photo: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 90% of UK towns, at 41%
19% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Few places have so few households in flats: 8.5% here, fewer than in 63% of UK towns. Wigston is home to 34,728 residents in 14,687 households, by the 2021 Census. In Wigston, 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Since 2011, Wigston has grown +12%, faster than 68% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wigston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 33,800 people in 2011; 38,000 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +21% for the 0 to 15 to +2% for the 45 to 64. The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 1,250 people.
Wigston sits above 63% of UK towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (10%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 22% here and 18% across England’s towns. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7% of residents. Half of Wigston’s residents are under 43.6, younger than in 57% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wigston, 43.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 81% of UK towns: 7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Wigston has 29% and 28%. At 5.2%, the share of full-time students is higher than in 66% of UK towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Wigston households average 2.4 people, larger than in 69% 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.
In Wigston, 28% of households have dependent children. There is little gap on one-person households: 30%, about the same as across England’s towns.
18% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 59% 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
Detached houses are home to 20% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, households in terraced houses come to 24%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 12% in Wigston, more than in 81% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
In Wigston, 93% of residents have English as their main language, beside 90% across England’s towns. Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (5.1%) and in EU countries (3.4%).
A lower White British share than 88% of UK towns: 76% of residents
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: 76% of Wigston · Leicestershire’s towns 66% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Indian (10%), Other White (3.8%) and Mixed or multiple (3%). By way of comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. On residents with no religion, Wigston sits lower than 64% of UK towns: 39%.
Wigston sits above 59% of UK towns for adults who have never married (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
One in ten residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%. Married adults and civil partners: 47% of the total.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 26% of Wigston’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in South Wigston to 48 in Wigston Harcourt & Little Hill
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Wigston Harcourt & Little Hill is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; South Wigston the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in West Knighton (35% of households).
203 UK towns of 24,000 to 47,000 people: this is the 61st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Hatfield (30.3) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Wigston in age: Golborne (43.5), Gorleston-on-Sea (43.5), Fleet (43.6) and Redcar (43.7).
Wigston is younger than 4 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wigston | 34,728 | — | 43.6 | 22% | 28% |
| Oadby | 24,039 | 2 mi | 40.9 | 20% | 33% |
| Countesthorpe | 7,674 | 2.4 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Blaby and Whetstone | 14,072 | 2.6 mi | 42.5 | 21% | 30% |
| Leicester | 406,612 | 3.4 mi | 34.3 | 13% | 35% |
| Great Glen | 4,062 | 3.6 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 31% |
| Littlethorpe | 1,918 | 3.8 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Cosby | 3,518 | 3.9 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 28% |
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 Wigston’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. Wigston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 35,333 people in 2021, against 34,728 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 Wigston’s residents
What is the population of Wigston?
The 2021 Census counted 34,728 people in Wigston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 38,000 people in mid-2024, 12% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wigston?
The median age was 43.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 57% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wigston?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 66% across Leicestershire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wigston?
39% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 4.3% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Wigston good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in West Knighton (35% of households). Schools are on Wigston’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.