Population around the county

The Office for National Statistics published its estimates of the 2020 resident population of small areas in September 2021.  Key points for Herefordshire include:

• Herefordshire has the fourth lowest population density in England, with 193,600 residents scattered all over its 842 square miles. Over half (102,700; 53%) live in areas defined as ‘rural’, with the majority of these (82,600 people; 43% of the total) in the most rural ‘village and dispersed’ areas.  Just under a third of the population lives in Hereford city (61,500 people), and just under a fifth in one of the three largest market towns of Leominster (12,400), Ross (11,200) and Ledbury (9,900).
• The built-up areas of the county have grown more rapidly (by 13%) than the rural areas (by 9%) during the last two decades.
• Hereford city has a much younger profile than the county as a whole, with relatively high proportions of young adults and young children. The most rural areas have relatively more people of older working and early retirement age (50-70 year olds). The market towns and other areas (including larger villages like Colwall and Credenhill) have a profile more similar to the county overall.