Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.018% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 78% of UK towns don’t reach
87% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 9,645 residents in Shepton Mallet, living in 4,256 households. Here, 27% of households live in a terraced house. Few places have as many shared households of unrelated adults: 2.7% here, more than in 67% of UK towns.
Shepton Mallet changed by +2% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shepton Mallet’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,400 people in 2011; 10,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+41%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−22%). In one year, mid-2014 to mid-2015, the population rose by 140, the most of any year.
A median age of 41.4: Shepton Mallet is younger than 73% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 19% here, fewer than in 71% of UK towns. In South Petherton, the oldest of Somerset’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Shepton Mallet, 41.4. 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.
Shepton Mallet ranks below 75% of UK towns on full-time students: 4.2%
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%.
26% of Shepton Mallet’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in 52% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Shepton Mallet households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 60% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Somerset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Where 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, Shepton Mallet has 31%. Across Shepton Mallet, 27% of households have dependent children.
Households in detached houses make up 20% in Shepton Mallet, less than in 74% 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
Here, 15% of households have no car or van. 18% of households live in a flat, more than in 78% of UK towns; 20% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Shepton Mallet ranks above 80% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 12%
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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are a fifth of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). As a yardstick, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English account for 92%.
No religion: 42% of residents, a higher share than 60% 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: 87% of Shepton Mallet · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, against 49% in Shepton Mallet. For residents with no religion, the comparison across England’s towns is 37%. The largest groups after White British are Other White (9%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.5%).
In Shepton Mallet, 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 73% of UK towns
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 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. 8.1% of residents give unpaid care.
Degree-level qualifications reach 26% of adults
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 Shepton Mallet, 26%, and 19% have none, against 18%.
Of 413 UK towns its size (7,000 to 13,000 people), the 95th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 61 in Seaton. Nearest to Shepton Mallet in age: Pheasey (41.3), Ashford Common (41.3), Cullompton (41.4) and Newtown (41.4).
The towns around Shepton Mallet are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepton Mallet | 9,645 | — | 41.4 | 19% | 27% |
| Pilton | 1,104 | 2.3 mi | 51.9 | 28% | 23% |
| Evercreech | 2,165 | 3.4 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 23% |
| Wells | 12,097 | 4.6 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 22% |
| Chilcompton | 1,857 | 5.4 mi | 48.1 | 23% | 29% |
| Coleford | 2,235 | 5.6 mi | 46.4 | 22% | 27% |
| Bruton | 2,816 | 6.9 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 29% |
| Castle Cary | 3,451 | 7 mi | 51.9 | 32% | 21% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Somerset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Somerset (or England), summed the same way as Shepton Mallet’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. Shepton Mallet’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,589 people in 2021, against 9,645 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 Shepton Mallet’s residents
What is the population of Shepton Mallet?
The 2021 Census counted 9,645 people in Shepton Mallet’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,600 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shepton Mallet?
The median age was 41.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 73% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shepton Mallet?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shepton Mallet?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Shepton Mallet good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shepton Mallet’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.