Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0More residents who describe themselves as White British than 91% of UK towns: 96%
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.7%, against 12% across England’s towns. Households in flats: 4.1% of the total. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 25% here, fewer than in 76% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 3,305 people lived in Highley, in 1,468 households.
Highley is older than 75% of UK towns: a median age of 48.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8.8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over: 25% of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Highley, 48.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of full-time students than 94% of UK towns: 3.6%
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 Highley, 7.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Highley has 25% and 31%.
Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 74% of UK towns: 1.9%
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 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. The share of one-person households stands at 30%.
In Highley, 27% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 77% 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
Households without a car or van make up 15%, against 24% across England’s towns. On the census count, 31% of households live in a detached house.
Highley sits below 90% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.1%)
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
Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 13%. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 99%, more than in 85% of UK towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 78% 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 Highley · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (1.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.5%). Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 70% of UK towns. To put it in context, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 76% of UK towns, at 10%
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
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. Highley has fewer adults who have never married than 51% of UK towns, at 32%. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. For 104 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
24% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Highley, 24%, and 23% have none, against 18%.
Of 514 UK towns its size (2,500 to 4,000 people), the 206th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Highley in age: Newbold Verdon (48.2), Mancetter and Witherley (48.2), Framlingham (48.2) and Cuxton (48.2).
Older than Highley: 6 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highley | 3,305 | — | 48.2 | 25% | 25% |
| Alveley | 1,505 | 1.8 mi | 56.3 | 37% | 20% |
| Wolverley | 1,208 | 6 mi | 53.7 | 35% | 23% |
| Bridgnorth | 12,172 | 6 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Bewdley | 8,285 | 6.1 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 20% |
| Cleobury Mortimer | 2,963 | 6.3 mi | 46.5 | 24% | 28% |
| Kinver | 4,651 | 6.6 mi | 54.7 | 33% | 19% |
| Cookley | 1,971 | 7.1 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 24% |
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 Highley’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 Highley’s residents
What is the population of Highley?
The 2021 Census counted 3,305 people in Highley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Highley?
The median age was 48.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 75% of UK towns. 8.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Highley?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Highley?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Highley good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Highley’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.