Photo: Brian Deegan · CC BY-SA 2.0Shawbury is younger than 91% of UK towns: a median age of 37.5
Households with dependent children: 33%, above 90% of UK towns. In Shawbury, 3.3% of households live in a flat or apartment. Nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 92% of UK towns. The village had 1,962 residents in 742 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Shawbury’s people
A village people move to
16% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Shawbury’s residents are under 37.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 92% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
25–29 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 17%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 97% of UK towns: 16%
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, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Shawbury has 38% and 22%. For comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. On the census count, 4.5% of adults are full-time students.
Shawbury households average 2.5 people, larger than in 86% 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.
In Shawbury, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 92% of UK towns, at 8.4%
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
By its share of households in detached houses (43%), Shawbury is above just over four fifths of UK towns. One in ten households have no car or van, fewer than in 81% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 80% of UK towns: 99%
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
A fifth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Across Shawbury, 5.6% of residents were born outside the UK.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 79% of UK towns: 55%
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: 95% of Shawbury · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
95% of residents describe themselves as White British (England’s towns: 73%). At the same time, at 39%, the share of residents with no religion is lower than in 62% of UK towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.7%) and Pakistani (0.3%).
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 72% of UK towns: 52%
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 care takes 50 hours a week or more for 46 people. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. 9% of residents give unpaid care, a lower share than in 61% of UK towns. Here 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 39%.
Among adults, 30% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 30% of its adults qualified to degree level, Shawbury compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 13% hold no qualification (18%).
Shawbury is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawbury | 1,962 | — | 37.5 | 17% | 33% |
| Bomere Heath | 1,364 | 5.3 mi | 49.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Wem | 6,287 | 5.4 mi | 47.6 | 27% | 22% |
| Shrewsbury | 76,013 | 6.4 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 25% |
| Prees | 1,013 | 7.5 mi | 50.8 | 27% | 22% |
| Baschurch | 2,007 | 8.2 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 33% |
| Prees Higher Heath | 1,226 | 8.8 mi | 53.2 | 31% | 21% |
| Bayston Hill | 5,221 | 9.3 mi | 48 | 28% | 26% |
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 Shawbury’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 Shawbury’s residents
What is the population of Shawbury?
The 2021 Census counted 1,962 people in Shawbury’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Shawbury?
The median age was 37.5 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shawbury?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shawbury?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Shawbury good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shawbury’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.