Photo: Robin Stott · CC BY-SA 2.0Residents with no religion: 28%, a lower share than 95% of UK towns
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Solihull had 107,754 residents and 44,407 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 44.2 (younger than 52% of UK towns). For Solihull, the census puts households in terraced houses at 9.6%. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 78% of UK towns.
Solihull changed by +5% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 60% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Solihull’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 105,800 people in 2011; 111,400 in 2024.
Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 1,100, its biggest one-year gain. Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+15%) and the 16 to 29 least (−3%).
Above 60% of UK towns: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 18% across England’s towns, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in Solihull. With a median age of 44.2, Solihull is younger than 52% of UK towns. On average, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. 55–59 is the most common age band: 7.3% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Solihull, 44.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Solihull: 5.7% of adults are full-time students, above 78% 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%.
In Solihull, just over two in five adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. At 8.6%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is lower than in 52% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
29% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 61% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Midlands’ towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Solihull. Across England’s towns, the share of one-person households is 30%. On households with dependent children, Solihull sits higher than 68% of UK towns: 29%.
Above 73% of UK towns: 16% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
On households in detached houses, Solihull sits lower than 52% of UK towns: 28%. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Across Solihull, 15% of households have no car or van.
Solihull sits above 84% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (14%)
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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Here 94% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (7.2%) and in EU countries (3.3%). Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 92% of UK towns: 71%
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: 71% of Solihull · West Midlands’ towns 56% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Indian (8.2%), Pakistani (5.5%) and Other White (4.9%). For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across England’s towns is 73%. Half of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 51% of UK towns.
Fewer adults who have never married than 63% of UK towns: 30%
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
2,661 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Solihull has more unpaid carers than 53% of UK towns, at 9.5%. As a yardstick, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 39% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 39% of its adults qualified to degree level, Solihull compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 15% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 31 in Dickens Heath, Cheswick Green & Hockley Heath to 49 in Shirley Heath
The city’s 16 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Shirley Heath is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Dickens Heath, Cheswick Green & Hockley Heath the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in Dickens Heath, Cheswick Green & Hockley Heath (38% of households).
Of 72 UK towns its size (75,000 to 145,000 people), the 8th 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 Salford (29.8), the youngest, and Southport (48.4), the oldest. Nearest to Solihull in age: Shrewsbury (43.2), Hastings (43.7), Harrogate (44.5) and Poole (44.6).
Nearby, 4 of 7 towns have older populations than Solihull
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solihull | 107,754 | — | 44.2 | 22% | 29% |
| Cheswick Green | 2,743 | 2.9 mi | 43.1 | 24% | 32% |
| Dickens Heath | 4,797 | 2.9 mi | 36 | 8.6% | 32% |
| Knowle and Dorridge | 19,323 | 3.5 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 30% |
| Tidbury Green | 1,552 | 3.6 mi | 37 | 14% | 39% |
| Hollywood | 6,944 | 3.8 mi | 49.4 | 28% | 26% |
| Wythall | 2,077 | 4.2 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 29% |
| Hampton in Arden | 1,867 | 4.4 mi | 45.8 | 20% | 29% |
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.
- “West Midlands’ towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Midlands (or England), summed the same way as Solihull’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. Solihull’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 108,364 people in 2021, against 107,754 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 Solihull’s residents
What is the population of Solihull?
The 2021 Census counted 107,754 people in Solihull’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 111,400 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Solihull?
The median age was 44.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 52% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Solihull?
71% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 56% across West Midlands’ towns. 14% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Solihull?
28% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 8.1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Solihull good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Dickens Heath, Cheswick Green & Hockley Heath (38% of households). Schools are on Solihull’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.