Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.029% of residents are 65 or over, a share 89% of UK towns don’t reach
One-person households: 35%, above 85% of UK towns. Fewer residents with no religion than in 88% of UK towns: 33%. 4,268 residents in 1,957 households: that is Ellesmere at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What the Census says about Ellesmere’s people
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 89% of UK towns; 18% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Older than 82% of UK towns: half of Ellesmere is over 49.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24; in Ellesmere, 8.8%. 55–59 is the most common age band: 7.1% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ellesmere, 49.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
3.9% of adults are full-time students, below 87% 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%.
In Ellesmere, 31% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
Households with dependent children: 23%, a lower share than 84% 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.
A household here has 2.2 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. The share of households with dependent children across England’s towns is 29%.
Ellesmere ranks above 66% of UK towns on households in detached houses: 35%
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
In Ellesmere, 17% of households live in a terraced house, beside 24% across England’s towns. One in ten households live in a flat, less than in 52% of UK towns; 35% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 72% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
6.8% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (4.8%) and in Africa (0.7%). As a reference point, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 61%, a higher share than 95% 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: 93% of Ellesmere · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (5%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Chinese (0.5%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 93%, more than in 56% of UK towns.
A smaller share of adults who have never married than 75% of UK towns: 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
Here 49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 118 residents. Fewer unpaid carers than in 62% of UK towns: 8.9%. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 29% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 29% of adults in Ellesmere (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 20% (England’s towns: 18%).
Among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, the 191st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe (64.7). Nearest to Ellesmere in age: Great Lumley (49.4), Madeley (49.4), Barton-under-Needwood (49.4) and Bromyard (49.4).
No nearby town is as old as Ellesmere
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellesmere | 4,268 | — | 49.4 | 29% | 23% |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 4.6 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 26% |
| Whittington | 1,618 | 5.1 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 29% |
| Gobowen | 3,046 | 5.8 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 6.9 mi | 45.3 | 22% | 28% |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 7 mi | 44 | 23% | 25% |
| Oswestry | 17,500 | 7.1 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 24% |
| Morda | 1,976 | 8 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 33% |
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 Ellesmere’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 Ellesmere’s residents
What is the population of Ellesmere?
The 2021 Census counted 4,268 people in Ellesmere’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Ellesmere?
The median age was 49.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 82% of UK towns. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ellesmere?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 6.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ellesmere?
33% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Ellesmere good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Ellesmere’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.