Photo: Andrew Hill · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Shotley is over 54.8, older than 97% of UK towns
Set against 23% across England’s towns, 1.2% of households live in a flat or apartment in Shotley. More unpaid carers than in 99% of UK towns: 16%. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 550, in 258 households. The share of households with dependent children stands at 17%.
Fewer young people than 99% of UK towns: 6.4% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
60–64 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. For Shotley, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 32%.
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.
2.9% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 99% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Shotley has 22% and 30%. 6.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 93% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 87% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Suffolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Here 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across England’s towns is 4.3%. Locally, 31% of households are one person living alone.
Households without a car or van: 19%, a higher share than 68% 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
Shotley sits close to the norm on households in detached houses: 21%, about the same as across England’s towns. One household in every 5 has no car or van. Few places have so few households in terraced houses: 17% here, fewer than in 62% of UK towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 99% of UK towns: 1.8%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English: 100% here and 90% across England’s towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (0.6%) and in Africa (0.6%).
Shotley: 97% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 93% 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: 97% of Shotley · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Shotley comes in at 43%. The usual figure: 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Caribbean (0.4%). Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as Christian: 51% here, more than in 57% of UK towns.
Shotley sits below 76% of UK towns for adults who have never married (29%)
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 23. Typically, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. More married adults and civil partners than in 53% of UK towns: 48%.
22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
27% of Shotley’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 22% have one at degree level (34%).
Every nearby town is younger than Shotley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shotley | 550 | — | 54.8 | 32% | 17% |
| Shotley Gate | 1,418 | 0.9 mi | 48.2 | 21% | 26% |
| Harwich | 20,219 | 2.5 mi | 46 | 25% | 25% |
| Trimley St Martin | 1,725 | 3.1 mi | 45.9 | 21% | 24% |
| Trimley St Mary | 3,736 | 3.3 mi | 48.4 | 25% | 24% |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 4 mi | 41.6 | 22% | 29% |
| Kirton | 1,245 | 4 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 24% |
| Felixstowe | 24,218 | 4.2 mi | 51 | 29% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Suffolk’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Suffolk (or England), summed the same way as Shotley’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 Shotley’s residents
What is the population of Shotley?
The 2021 Census counted 550 people in Shotley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Shotley?
The median age was 54.8 at the 2021 Census. 6.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shotley?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 1.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shotley?
43% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Shotley good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shotley’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.