Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0In Shere, 36% of households are one person living alone, more than in 92% of UK towns
Unpaid carers: 11% here and 8.7% across England’s towns. Shere has more residents aged 65 and over than 77% of UK towns, at 26%. There were 144 households in the village at the 2021 Census, home to 325 residents. Households without a car or van account for 10%.
Shere is older than 64% of UK towns: a median age of 46.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here and 12% across England’s towns. No age band is larger than 10–14: 8.3% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 79 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.
Shere sits above 96% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (15%)
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%.
By class, 37% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Locally, 7.3% of adults are full-time students. Across England’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Shere households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 69% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Surrey’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 29%; Shere has 26%. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 3.5%.
A larger share of households in flats than 80% of UK towns: 18%
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 terraced houses make up 16%, against 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. 21% of households live in a detached house.
Shere sits above 81% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (13%)
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (6.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (4.3%). As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 73% of UK towns.
Shere sits below 75% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (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 Shere · Surrey’s towns 76% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Asked about religion, 40% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Islam is the religion of 2.2% of residents. 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 53% of UK towns.
30% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 63% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 8. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Lower than in 54% of UK towns: 47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 42%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
15% of Shere’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 42% have one at degree level (34%). For 17%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Shere
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shere | 325 | — | 46.3 | 26% | 26% |
| Gomshall | 1,378 | 0.7 mi | 46 | 19% | 32% |
| Chilworth | 1,917 | 3.1 mi | 45.9 | 22% | 29% |
| West Horsley | 1,378 | 3.2 mi | 49.3 | 25% | 31% |
| West Clandon | 1,233 | 3.5 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 34% |
| Shamley Green | 1,200 | 3.6 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 31% |
| Bramley and Wonersh | 4,193 | 4 mi | 46.7 | 23% | 29% |
| Shalford | 2,508 | 4.3 mi | 46.2 | 23% | 27% |
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.
- “Surrey’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Surrey (or England), summed the same way as Shere’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 Shere’s residents
What is the population of Shere?
The 2021 Census counted 325 people in Shere’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Shere?
The median age was 46.3 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shere?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 76% across Surrey’s towns. 13% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shere?
40% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.2% were Muslim and 8% didn’t answer.
Is Shere good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shere’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.