Photo: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0Wem sits below 88% of UK towns for households with dependent children (22%)
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 36% of households are one person living alone in Wem. Census day 2021: 6,287 residents and 2,815 households locally. 42% of households live in a detached house. With a median age of 47.6, Wem is older than 72% of UK towns.
Faster growth than 51% of UK towns: Wem changed by +8% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wem’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,900 people in 2011; 6,300 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+26%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−8%). The steepest year was mid-2013 to mid-2014, up 170 people.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 80% of UK towns, at 27%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%; Wem has 13%. As a reference point, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wem, 47.6. 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.
6% of adults are full-time students, more than in 84% 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: 9.2% here and 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Wem households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 78% 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.
Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Wem, 2.2%.
Wem sits below 67% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (16%)
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 in flats: 13% here and 23% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. 17% of households have no car or van.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 67% of UK towns, at 4.8%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. At 98%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in three fifths of UK towns. Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 15%.
Wem: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 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: 95% of Wem · Shropshire’s towns 88% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Wem, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 73% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 46% across England’s towns. Residents with no religion: nearly two fifths of the total.
Wem sits below 59% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (46%)
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
189 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Wem has more adults who have never married than 53% of UK towns, at 33%. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.4%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Wem counts 25% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 18% have no qualification (18%).
Of 624 UK towns its size (4,000 to 8,000 people), the 227th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Wem in age: Netley (47.5), Holbury (47.5), Harleston (47.6) and Olney (47.6).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Wem 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wem | 6,287 | — | 47.6 | 27% | 22% |
| Prees | 1,013 | 3.7 mi | 50.8 | 27% | 22% |
| Prees Higher Heath | 1,226 | 5 mi | 53.2 | 31% | 21% |
| Shawbury | 1,962 | 5.4 mi | 37.5 | 17% | 33% |
| Bomere Heath | 1,364 | 6.3 mi | 49.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Baschurch | 2,007 | 7.1 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 33% |
| Whitchurch | 9,856 | 7.9 mi | 47 | 24% | 24% |
| Ellesmere | 4,268 | 8.2 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 23% |
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 Wem’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. Wem’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,287 people in 2021, against 6,287 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 Wem’s residents
What is the population of Wem?
The 2021 Census counted 6,287 people in Wem’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,300 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wem?
The median age was 47.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 72% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wem?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 88% across Shropshire’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wem?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Wem good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wem’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.