Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 5% of households have no car or van in Dorrington
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Dorrington, 23%. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 97% of UK towns. The village had 790 residents in 304 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 53% of households live in a detached house.
A young village: 11% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns, Dorrington has 22%. On top of that, with a median age of 44.7, Dorrington is older than just over half of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 8.3% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.4% of adults are full-time students, below 69% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 11%, close to the figure across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Bigger households than 78% of UK towns: 2.4 people each on average
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.
2.6% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns. For Dorrington, the census puts households with dependent children at 29%.
In Dorrington, 4.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 85% 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
16% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). The usual figure: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
In Dorrington, 96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 68% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (3.9%) and in EU countries (2.2%). The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. 7.1% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8.6% across Shropshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 90% of UK towns, at 32%
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: 82% of Dorrington · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Indian (13%), Other White (3.8%) and Mixed or multiple (1%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as White British: 82% here, fewer than in just over four fifths of UK towns. Compared with 46% across England’s towns, half of residents describe themselves as Christian here.
6.3% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 98% 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
6 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. At 27%, the share of adults who have never married is lower than in 85% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
14% of Dorrington’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 38% have one at degree level (34%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Dorrington, 4 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorrington | 790 | — | 44.7 | 22% | 29% |
| Bayston Hill | 5,221 | 3.6 mi | 48 | 28% | 26% |
| Hanwood | 1,257 | 4.9 mi | 42.9 | 24% | 27% |
| Pontesbury | 1,968 | 5.4 mi | 53.2 | 34% | 22% |
| Church Stretton | 3,576 | 6 mi | 61.1 | 43% | 15% |
| Minsterley | 1,719 | 6.4 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Shrewsbury | 76,013 | 6.5 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 25% |
| Much Wenlock | 1,766 | 9.1 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 18% |
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 Dorrington’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 Dorrington’s residents
What is the population of Dorrington?
The 2021 Census counted 790 people in Dorrington’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Dorrington?
The median age was 44.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dorrington?
82% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 7.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dorrington?
32% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Dorrington good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dorrington’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.