Photo: Jeff Gogarty · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 87% of UK towns: half of Bridgnorth is over 50.5
22% of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.8% in Bridgnorth. Lower than in 83% of UK towns: 35% of residents said they have no religion. The 2021 Census counted 12,172 residents in 5,679 households.
What the Census says about Bridgnorth’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Bridgnorth at 12,100 in 2011 and 11,700 in 2024, down 3%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 94% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Bridgnorth’s residents are under 50.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
From 2011 to 2024, 94% of UK towns grew faster than Bridgnorth: −3%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bridgnorth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,100 people in 2011; 11,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+34%) and the 30 to 44 least (−27%).
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8% of residents. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9% here, fewer than in 75% of UK towns. In Church Stretton, the oldest of Shropshire’s towns by this measure, it is 43%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bridgnorth, 50.5. 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.
Bridgnorth ranks below 81% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.1%
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%.
Where 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Bridgnorth has 8%. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
Bridgnorth households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 89% 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.
Just over a third of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%.
More flats than 69% of UK towns: 15% of households in Bridgnorth
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
22% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Here, 17% of households have no car or van. Households in flats: 23% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Only 3.3% of residents were born outside the UK in Bridgnorth
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
Nearly a fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. On average, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Census figures put residents whose main language is English at 99% in Bridgnorth.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 59% in Bridgnorth, more than in 92% 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: 96% of Bridgnorth · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.3%). Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 86% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%.
Bridgnorth ranks below 72% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 29%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 44%; Bridgnorth has 49%. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. 310 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 32% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in Much Wenlock & Broseley to 52 in Bridgnorth East
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bridgnorth East is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Much Wenlock & Broseley the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Much Wenlock & Broseley (34% of households).
Of 347 UK towns its size (9,000 to 16,000 people), the 39th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Bridgnorth in age: West Kirby (50.4), Llandudno (50.4), Whitby (50.6) and Cottingham (50.7).
Around Bridgnorth, 3 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgnorth | 12,172 | — | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Broseley | 5,596 | 5.9 mi | 50.2 | 26% | 25% |
| Highley | 3,305 | 6 mi | 48.2 | 25% | 25% |
| Alveley | 1,505 | 6.1 mi | 56.3 | 37% | 20% |
| Much Wenlock | 1,766 | 7 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 18% |
| Pattingham | 1,773 | 7.6 mi | 48.5 | 28% | 29% |
| Albrighton | 6,983 | 9 mi | 39.3 | 21% | 25% |
| Swindon | 1,134 | 9.4 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 19% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Bridgnorth’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. Bridgnorth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,848 people in 2021, against 12,172 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 Bridgnorth’s residents
What is the population of Bridgnorth?
The 2021 Census counted 12,172 people in Bridgnorth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,700 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bridgnorth?
The median age was 50.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bridgnorth?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 3.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bridgnorth?
35% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Bridgnorth good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Much Wenlock & Broseley (34% of households). Schools are on Bridgnorth’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.