Socio-economic statistics for Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Is Shrewsbury in Shropshire a nice place to live or is it a bit rough? We have collated a series of socio-economic statistics and demographics from UK government sources such as the 2021 Census and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. They should give you a broad snapshot of the area and the surrounding locations. Are the residents of Shrewsbury older than the national average or younger? What is the population of Shrewsbury and Shropshire? What is the claimant count in Shrewsbury and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

How many residents own or rent their home in Shrewsbury and Shropshire

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Shrewsbury either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 65.82 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 34.18 of Shrewsbury residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Porthill	65.82%	34.18%
Shropshire	68.62%	31.38%
West Midlands	62.8%	37.2%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury has a higher level of home ownership than than the national average.

Shrewsbury compared to other wards in Shropshire

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Copthorne	86.95%	13.05%
2	Llanymynech	80.04%	19.96%
3	Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton	77.89%	22.11%
4	The Meres	77.2%	22.8%
5	Ruyton and Baschurch	77.08%	22.92%
6	Clun	76.17%	23.83%
7	Hodnet	76.16%	23.84%
8	St Oswald (Shropshire)	75.45%	24.55%
9	Cleobury Mortimer	75.41%	24.59%
10	Alveley and Claverley	75.37%	24.63%
11	Clee	75.35%	24.65%
12	Loton	75.26%	24.74%
13	Cheswardine	74.69%	25.31%
14	Prees	74.48%	25.52%
15	Burnell	74.09%	25.91%
16	Longden	73.68%	26.32%
17	Battlefield	73.31%	26.69%
18	Whittington	73.17%	26.83%
19	Whitchurch South	72.82%	27.18%
20	Bagley	72.63%	27.37%
21	Chirbury and Worthen	72.11%	27.89%
22	Albrighton	72.08%	27.92%
23	St Martin's (Shropshire)	71.95%	28.05%
24	Corvedale	71.87%	28.13%
25	Bridgnorth West and Tasley	71.53%	28.47%
26	Wem	71.3%	28.7%
27	Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn	71.29%	28.71%
28	Meole	70.94%	29.06%
29	Rea Valley	70.92%	29.08%
30	Radbrook	70.76%	29.24%
31	Brown Clee	69.96%	30.04%
32	Market Drayton West	69.95%	30.05%
33	Ludlow South	69.63%	30.37%
34	Church Stretton and Craven Arms	69.53%	30.47%
35	Ellesmere Urban	69.18%	30.82%
36	Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts	68.82%	31.18%
37	Tern	68.23%	31.77%
38	Highley	68.21%	31.79%
39	Broseley	66.84%	33.16%
40	Abbey (Shropshire)	66.8%	33.2%
41	Severn Valley	66.49%	33.51%
42	Much Wenlock	66.38%	33.62%
43	Bishop's Castle	66.33%	33.67%
44	Shawbury	66.21%	33.79%
45	Shifnal South and Cosford	66.11%	33.89%
46	Porthill	65.82%	34.18%
47	Shifnal North	64.89%	35.11%
48	Belle Vue (Shropshire)	64.64%	35.36%
49	Worfield	63.82%	36.18%
50	Whitchurch North	63.63%	36.37%
51	Oswestry East	63.13%	36.87%
52	Bowbrook (Shropshire)	62.99%	37.01%
53	Market Drayton East	62.72%	37.28%
54	Oswestry South	61.34%	38.66%
55	Ludlow North	60.26%	39.74%
56	Monkmoor	60.17%	39.83%
57	Underdale	59.68%	40.32%
58	Ludlow East	58.72%	41.28%
59	Sundorne	56.16%	43.84%
60	Oswestry West	54.02%	45.98%
61	Harlescott	53.63%	46.37%
62	Castlefields and Ditherington	51%	49%
63	Quarry and Coton Hill	40.82%	59.18%

Shrewsbury is ranked 46 out of 63 wards in Shropshire for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury Health Statistics

Porthill has significantly more residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Porthill	54.07%	32.45%	10.42%	2.22%	0.85%
Shropshire	46.63%	34.71%	13.58%	3.95%	1.13%
West Midlands	46.4%	34.38%	13.54%	4.37%	1.31%
England	48.49%	33.71%	12.65%	3.98%	1.17%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How has the health of residents in Shropshire changed since 2011?

Shropshire residents who describe their health as either good or very good has decreased by 0.07% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	46.49%	34.92%	13.55%	3.91%	1.13%
2021	46.63%	34.71%	13.58%	3.95%	1.13%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury Unemployment Statistics

Since the introduction of Universal Credit, The Department for Work & Pensions have not issued any statistics (in our view) that can be used to ascertain the levels of unemployment or under employment in the UK, just meaningless geographic counts. However, the Office of National Statistics does publish claimant counts of people receiving out of work benefits, be that legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit as a proportion of people over 16. These figures are usually updated once a month and are for Local Authority Districts and Unitary Authority Districts. So below are the figures of Shropshire.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Shropshire	2.5%	-0.3%
West Midlands	5%	-0.3%
England	3.8%	-0.3%
UK	3.7%	-0.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Last Retrieved: March 2023

The 2021 census had data on people who were economically active (seeking work) yet unemployed on Census day (Sunday March 21st 2021). These statitics do cover Shrewsbury on a ward level. However, it has to be noted that the Census day was during the height of the Covid19 pandemic and therefore are not reflective of normal levels of unemployment. For example, between March 2020 and June 2020 people claiming Universal Credit doubled in most areas of the United Kingdom and then steadily declined up to the day of the Census and beyond. This data also contains the proportion of people in part-time work (working between 1-35 hours per week), which maybe an indicator of under employment in Shrewsbury.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	52.91%
In Part-Time Work	30.34%
Unemployed	2.74%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

69.66% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Shrewsbury

What are the occupations of the residents of Shrewsbury?

The largest employment sector in Shrewsbury is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	31.05%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	15.55%
Associate Professional & Technical	14.22%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.53%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.43%
Skilled Trades	7.19%
Elementary Occupations	6.64%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	3.99%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Shrewsbury Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Shrewsbury residents have in terms of formal qualifications as a percentage. The UK government breaks qualifications down into 7 levels. A detailed explanation of these levels can be found here. However, the Census groups these into just 4 \'levels\'. Here are some examples of the qualifications each census level represents when not stated;

Level 1 - GCSE grades D, E, F, or G & below
Level 2 - GCSE A*, A, B, C or O Level grades A, B or C
Level 3 - A or AS qualification at any grade
Level 4 - HNC, Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree or Phd

In this first table we have compared Shrewsbury to the national average for England.

Level	Porthill	England
No Qualifications	10.52%	18.08%
Level 1	6.56%	9.69%
Level 2	16.82%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.12%	5.32%
Level 3	15.01%	16.92%
Level 4	44.93%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in Porthill.

Age Band	Proportion
4 & under
5 - 9 years
10 - 15 years
16 - 19 years
20 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 49 years
50 - 64 years
65 - 74 years
75 - 84 years
85 years & over

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury & Shropshire Immigration Statistics

We have analysed the Census 2021 raw data on country of birth and compiled immigration statistics as percentages of the population. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. Below are the figures for Shrewsbury in the Shropshire local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Porthill	88.82%	11.18%
Shropshire	94.09%	5.91%
West Midlands	84.84%	15.17%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shrewsbury compared to other wards in Shropshire

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Quarry and Coton Hill	82.86%	17.14%
2	Oswestry West	84.05%	15.95%
3	Castlefields and Ditherington	86.85%	13.15%
4	Oswestry South	87.28%	12.72%
5	Bowbrook	87.91%	12.09%
6	Porthill	88.82%	11.18%
7	Oswestry East	90.05%	9.95%
8	Radbrook	90.42%	9.58%
9	Shifnal South and Cosford	91.52%	8.48%
10	Abbey	92.08%	7.92%
11	Harlescott	92.27%	7.73%
12	Burnell	92.36%	7.64%
13	Belle Vue	92.55%	7.45%
14	Battlefield	92.59%	7.41%
15	Copthorne	92.76%	7.24%
16	Bagley	93.08%	6.92%
17	Ellesmere Urban	93.1%	6.9%
18	Meole	93.21%	6.79%
19	Church Stretton and Craven Arms	93.47%	6.53%
20	Underdale	93.73%	6.27%
21	Whitchurch North	93.74%	6.26%
22	Hodnet	93.83%	6.17%
23	Market Drayton East	93.88%	6.12%
24	Sundorne	93.98%	6.02%
25	Albrighton	94.18%	5.82%
26	Ludlow North	94.41%	5.59%
27	Cheswardine	94.65%	5.35%
28	Market Drayton West	94.66%	5.34%
29	Loton	94.66%	5.34%
30	Bishop's Castle	94.91%	5.09%
31	Whittington	94.93%	5.07%
32	Clun	94.94%	5.06%
33	Shawbury	95.02%	4.98%
34	Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton	95.14%	4.86%
35	Whitchurch South	95.17%	4.83%
36	Ruyton and Baschurch	95.19%	4.81%
37	Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn	95.25%	4.75%
38	St Oswald	95.3%	4.7%
39	Wem	95.64%	4.36%
40	Chirbury and Worthen	95.75%	4.25%
41	Ludlow South	95.84%	4.16%
42	Ludlow East	95.92%	4.08%
43	St Martin's	95.92%	4.08%
44	Rea Valley	95.94%	4.06%
45	Prees	95.99%	4.01%
46	Severn Valley	96.05%	3.95%
47	Shifnal North	96.12%	3.88%
48	Corvedale	96.16%	3.84%
49	Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts	96.24%	3.76%
50	The Meres	96.25%	3.75%
51	Longden	96.31%	3.69%
52	Tern	96.46%	3.54%
53	Llanymynech	96.51%	3.49%
54	Clee	96.54%	3.46%
55	Much Wenlock	96.55%	3.45%
56	Monkmoor	96.62%	3.38%
57	Broseley	96.84%	3.16%
58	Worfield	96.84%	3.16%
59	Highley	97.03%	2.97%
60	Alveley and Claverley	97.12%	2.88%
61	Bridgnorth West and Tasley	97.2%	2.8%
62	Cleobury Mortimer	97.44%	2.56%
63	Brown Clee	97.64%	2.36%

';Shrewsbury is ranked 6 out of 63 wards in Shropshire for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Shrewsbury and Shropshire?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Shropshire including Shrewsbury. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Abbey	4231
Albrighton	4455
Alveley and Claverley	4136
Bagley	4697
Battlefield	4968
Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton	12460
Belle Vue	4610
Bishop's Castle	3818
Bowbrook	4834
Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts	6899
Bridgnorth West and Tasley	7253
Broseley	4995
Brown Clee	4070
Burnell	5056
Castlefields and Ditherington	4610
Cheswardine	4522
Chirbury and Worthen	3021
Church Stretton and Craven Arms	9272
Clee	4592
Cleobury Mortimer	7653
Clun	4017
Copthorne	4364
Corvedale	3692
Ellesmere Urban	4304
Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn	7016
Harlescott	4964
Highley	3798
Hodnet	4781
Llanymynech	4363
Longden	4198
Loton	4227
Ludlow East	4026
Ludlow North	3813
Ludlow South	4166
Market Drayton East	5636
Market Drayton West	8920
Meole	4556
Monkmoor	4529
Much Wenlock	4078
Oswestry East	9605
Oswestry South	4507
Oswestry West	4078
Porthill	4949
Prees	4595
Quarry and Coton Hill	4937
Radbrook	4947
Rea Valley	4615
Ruyton and Baschurch	4438
Severn Valley	4666
Shawbury	5200
Shifnal North	5821
Shifnal South and Cosford	6650
St Martin's	4491
St Oswald	4729
Sundorne	4226
Tern	4853
The Meres	5164
Underdale	4505
Wem	8835
Whitchurch North	7707
Whitchurch South	4468
Whittington	4259
Worfield	3570
Shropshire Total	325415

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Last updated: 20/02/2024, Additional Sources: Office for National Statistics & Department for Work & Pensions.

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