Photo: David Rogers · CC BY-SA 2.0Sharow is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55
In Sharow, 8.2% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. By contrast, on residents who describe themselves as Christian, Sharow sits higher than 95% of UK towns: 61%. At the 2021 Census, 574 people lived locally, in 248 households. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 0.8%.
36% of residents are 65 or over, a share 97% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up nearly one in ten residents, against 12% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More students than 78% of UK towns: 5.7% of adults in Sharow
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; Sharow has 45% and 16%. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. The census found that 7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier locally.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Sharow sits below 79% of UK towns for one-person households (26%)
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against North Yorkshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
In Sharow the average household is 2.2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%. Households with dependent children: a quarter of the total.
Households in detached houses make up 61% in Sharow, more than in 97% 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
Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Sharow has 10%. Households in detached houses: 21% across England’s towns, for comparison. Locally, 2.5% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Sharow sits above 79% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.9%). At 7.8%, the share of residents born outside the UK is higher than in 63% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 87% of UK towns, at 33%
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: 94% of Sharow · North Yorkshire’s towns 90% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.4%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 94%, more than in just over two thirds of UK towns. For comparison, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
In Sharow, 22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 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
57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership (England’s towns: 44%). Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 94% of UK towns. Against that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 38% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 14% hold no qualification (18%).
Sharow is younger than 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharow | 574 | — | 55 | 36% | 25% |
| Ripon | 16,593 | 1.3 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 25% |
| Dishforth | 1,266 | 3.5 mi | 33.8 | 8.8% | 45% |
| Langthorpe | 1,294 | 5 mi | 45.8 | 20% | 29% |
| Boroughbridge | 3,064 | 5.5 mi | 48.8 | 26% | 24% |
| Sowerby | 4,727 | 8.4 mi | 45 | 25% | 26% |
| Masham | 1,112 | 8.4 mi | 56.4 | 36% | 18% |
| Killinghall | 1,476 | 8.7 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 35% |
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.
- “North Yorkshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in North Yorkshire (or England), summed the same way as Sharow’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 Sharow’s residents
What is the population of Sharow?
The 2021 Census counted 574 people in Sharow’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sharow?
The median age was 55 at the 2021 Census. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sharow?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 90% across North Yorkshire’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sharow?
33% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Sharow good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sharow’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.