Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0A lower share of households with dependent children than 82% of UK towns, at 24%
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, 41% of households live in a detached house here. The 2021 Census counted 12,159 residents in 5,378 households. One-person households account for 33%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian are more common here than in 70% of UK towns.
A +15% change since 2011: faster than 76% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oakham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,500 people in 2011; 12,100 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+41%) and the 0 to 15 least (±0%). In one year, mid-2016 to mid-2017, the population rose by 410, the most of any year.
27% of Oakham is 65 or over, a higher share than 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, against 11% in Oakham. What’s more, the median age locally is 46.9, higher than in just over two thirds of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oakham, 46.9. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
A student town: 6.4% of adults study full-time
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; Oakham has 37% and 23%. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%. Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Oakham households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 82% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Rutland’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults trails 55% of UK towns: 2.2%.
13% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 60% 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
The share of households without a car or van is 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns. On the census count, just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house.
Above 66% of UK towns: 8.4% of residents were born outside the UK
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
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later; here, 15%. Oakham has fewer residents whose main language is English than just over half of UK towns, at 98%. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.9%) and in Africa (1.5%).
Below 56% of UK towns: 40% of residents said they have no religion
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: 91% of Oakham · Rutland’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (4.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.5%) and Indian (0.8%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 91%, fewer than in 56% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents with no religion across England’s towns: 37%.
In Oakham, 30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 70% 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
Married adults and civil partners: 50%, above 62% of UK towns. At 8.5%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 35%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 35% of its adults qualified to degree level, Oakham compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 15% hold no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 17%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
347 UK towns of 9,000 to 16,000 people: this is the 95th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Oakham in age: Hawarden (46.8), Nuthall and Watnall (46.9), Codsall (46.9) and Northallerton (47).
2 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Oakham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakham | 12,159 | — | 46.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Barleythorpe | 1,344 | 0.9 mi | 36.2 | 11% | 46% |
| Langham | 1,400 | 1.7 mi | 55.2 | 34% | 20% |
| Greetham | 2,807 | 5 mi | 27.9 | 7.8% | 45% |
| Uppingham | 4,272 | 5.7 mi | 41.5 | 23% | 23% |
| South Witham | 1,590 | 7.8 mi | 41.4 | 16% | 27% |
| Ketton | 1,618 | 8.1 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 25% |
| Clipsham | 1,150 | 8.1 mi | 35 | 2.9% | 25% |
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.
- “Rutland’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Rutland (or England), summed the same way as Oakham’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. Oakham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,941 people in 2021, against 12,159 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 Oakham’s residents
What is the population of Oakham?
The 2021 Census counted 12,159 people in Oakham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,100 people in mid-2024, 15% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oakham?
The median age was 46.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 68% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oakham?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Rutland’s towns. 8.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oakham?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Oakham good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Oakham’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.