Photo: TCExplorer · CC BY-SA 2.0More one-person households than 87% of UK towns: 35%
Set against 29% across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households have dependent children in Oswestry. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 54%. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 68% of UK towns. There were 7,942 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 17,500 residents.
A +6% change since 2011: slower than 57% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Oswestry’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 17,200 people in 2011; 18,200 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +27% for the 65 and over to −9% for the 16 to 29. The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 270 more people.
Older than 60% of UK towns: half of Oswestry is over 45.8
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. On the census count, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oswestry, 45.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Above 76% of UK towns: 5.6% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Across England’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Oswestry, 9.7%. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 80% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns: 3.4%.
22% of households have no car or van, more than in 78% 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
With households in flats at 14%, Oswestry is ahead of 67% of UK towns on that count. One household in 5 has no car or van, the highest share in Shropshire. For Oswestry, the census puts households in terraced houses at 23%.
Residents born outside the UK make up 12% in Oswestry, more than in 80% 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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (8.6%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Lower than in 90% of UK towns: 92% of residents have English as their main language. 26% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 73% of UK towns: 87%
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: 87% of Oswestry · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
38% of residents said they have no religion; across England’s towns the figure is 37%. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (9.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.4%).
Oswestry ranks below 82% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 43%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 484. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9%, the share of unpaid carers is lower than in 60% of UK towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
27% of Oswestry’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 19% have none (18%).
Among 354 UK towns of 12,000 to 24,000 people, the 118th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Oswestry in age: Glossop (45.8), Market Drayton (45.8), Minster (Swale) (45.8) and Shoreham-by-Sea (45.8).
Oswestry is younger than 3 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswestry | 17,500 | — | 45.8 | 23% | 24% |
| Morda | 1,976 | 1.2 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 33% |
| Whittington | 1,618 | 2 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 29% |
| Gobowen | 3,046 | 2.6 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 27% |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 4 mi | 44 | 23% | 25% |
| Pant | 1,173 | 4.6 mi | 57.1 | 35% | 19% |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 4.7 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 26% |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 5.6 mi | 45.3 | 22% | 28% |
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 Oswestry’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. Oswestry’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 17,500 people in 2021, against 17,500 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 Oswestry’s residents
What is the population of Oswestry?
The 2021 Census counted 17,500 people in Oswestry’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,200 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Oswestry?
The median age was 45.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 60% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oswestry?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oswestry?
38% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Oswestry good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Oswestry’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. 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.