Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Acton Burnell is under 19.6, younger than 99% of UK towns
With households in detached houses at 54%, Acton Burnell is ahead of 93% of UK towns on that count. On households in terraced houses, Acton Burnell sits lower than 96% of UK towns: 6.5%. At the 2021 Census Acton Burnell was home to 407 people in 92 households. Locally, just over a third of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Only 7.4% of residents are 65 or over in Acton Burnell
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 15–19: 38% of residents, 6.7 times the share across England’s towns. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Acton Burnell is a campus town: students living in halls or boarding houses count as residents.
Full-time students make up 41% in Acton Burnell, more than in 99% 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%.
Leave the students aside and Acton Burnell’s other adults differ from England’s: 49% are in managerial and professional jobs, against 36%. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 23% here.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
1.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Shropshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
At 2.5 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults make up 4.3% across England’s towns. Here, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone. 30% of households have dependent children, more than in 76% of UK towns.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 4.4%
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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 4.4% in Acton Burnell. Across the comparison, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK make up 40% in Acton Burnell, more than in 99% 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 50%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (30%) and in EU countries (4.9%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. Lower than in 98% of UK towns: 82% of residents have English as their main language. Of residents born abroad, 86% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
Below 97% of UK towns: 59% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 59% of Acton Burnell · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
1.5% of residents said their religion is Muslim. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Acton Burnell sits lower than just over four fifths of UK towns: 44%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. The share of residents with no religion tops 61% of UK towns: 43%.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 57%
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
Students and young renters account for much of that. 7.3% of residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications reach 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 32% of its adults qualified to degree level, Acton Burnell compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 6.9% hold no qualification (18%). A levels are as far as 21% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
Acton Burnell is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton Burnell | 407 | — | 19.6 | 7.4% | 30% |
| Bayston Hill | 5,221 | 5.3 mi | 48 | 28% | 26% |
| Much Wenlock | 1,766 | 5.6 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 18% |
| Church Stretton | 3,576 | 7.2 mi | 61.1 | 43% | 15% |
| Shrewsbury | 76,013 | 7.3 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 25% |
| Hanwood | 1,257 | 7.4 mi | 42.9 | 24% | 27% |
| Broseley | 5,596 | 8.7 mi | 50.2 | 26% | 25% |
| Pontesbury | 1,968 | 8.8 mi | 53.2 | 34% | 22% |
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.
- “Shropshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Shropshire (or England), summed the same way as Acton Burnell’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 Acton Burnell’s residents
What is the population of Acton Burnell?
The 2021 Census counted 407 people in Acton Burnell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Acton Burnell?
The median age was 19.6 at the 2021 Census. 41% of residents were 15 to 24 and 7.4% were 65 or over.
Is Acton Burnell a student village?
Yes: 41% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (136 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns.
How diverse is Acton Burnell?
59% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 40% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Acton Burnell?
43% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.5% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.
Is Acton Burnell good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Acton Burnell’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.