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District of Himachal Pradesh

Shimla District Population 2026

Population · 1 March 2026

≈ 8.97 lakh Estimate Our estimate, method M1, constrained to the official state projection 1 March 2026 How this is made →

8,97,000 897,000 1 March 2026

Shimla district's population is estimated at ≈8.97 lakh (8,97,000) on 1 March 2026. This is our estimate, tied to the official Himachal Pradesh projection; Census 2011, the last count, recorded 8,14,010.

Estimate: method M1, constrained to the RGI projection for Himachal Pradesh. Census: ORGI.

Which number do you mean?

The district, the city and the metro area are three different areas. Pick the one you mean.

City

Shimla (municipal limits)

Census 2011
1,69,578
2026 Estimate Our estimate, method M1, constrained to the official state projection How this is made →
≈ 1.9 lakh

Metro area (UA)

Shimla urban agglomeration

Census 2011
1,71,640
2026 Estimate Our estimate, method M1, constrained to the official state projection How this is made →
≈ 1.9 lakh

District

Shimla district

Census 2011
8,14,010
2026 Estimate Our estimate, method M1, constrained to the official state projection How this is made →
≈ 8.97 lakh

Key figures

Population 2026
≈ 8.97 lakh 8,97,000 Estimate Our estimate, method M1, constrained to the official state projection How this is made →
Census 2011
8.14 lakh 8,14,010 Census 2011 Final count, Census of India 2011 (ORGI) How this is made →
Density
159per km² 2011
Sex ratio
915 Himachal Pradesh: 972
Child sex ratio (0–6)
925 Himachal Pradesh: 909
Literacy rate
83.6% Male 89.6% · Female 77.1%
Urban share
24.7% Himachal Pradesh: 10.0%
Growth 2001–11
+12.7% Himachal Pradesh: +12.9%
Area
5,131km² Census 2011
Households
1.84 lakh 4.4 people per household
Villages
3,231 Census 2011
Towns
11 Census 2011

Where it ranks

Population over time

Census counts on 2011 boundaries, then our estimate to 2036.

Shimla: Population over time
  • Census
  • Estimate
9.2 L 2026
› Show the numbers as a table
YearPopulation
19512,86,111
19613,41,461
19714,19,844
19815,10,932
19916,17,404
20017,22,502
20118,14,010
2016 *8,48,000
2021 *8,76,000
2026 *8,97,000
2031 *9,12,000
2036 *9,20,000

* Estimate

How Shimla's 2011 population was spread

Sub-districts (tehsils, talukas, mandals or blocks) as they were in Census 2011. “Part” means only some of it now lies in this district.

How Shimla's 2011 population was spread
#
1 Shimla (urban)1,69,57820.8%82093.6%100.0%
2 Theog84,68410.4%95984.1%5.1%
3 Shimla ( Rural )84,38210.4%91788.4%2.4%
4 Rampur77,5429.5%90680.9%13.3%
5 Rohru49,4906.1%93377.9%13.9%
6 Chirgaon46,1425.7%93670.7%0.0%
7 Kumharsain43,0625.3%96784.3%2.1%
8 Kotkhai39,2054.8%95182.8%3.0%
9 Jubbal37,6374.6%94681.6%4.4%
10 Nerua36,5174.5%94773.1%0.0%
11 Seoni35,3794.3%100186.2%7.3%
12 Chaupal31,1183.8%94478.4%5.9%
13 Nankhari26,2383.2%97479.0%0.0%
14 Cheta19,4602.4%92869.3%0.0%
15 Tikar13,8061.7%91778.5%0.0%
16 Junga13,3981.6%96085.9%0.0%
17 Dodra Kwar6,3720.8%91562.6%0.0%

Largest towns in Shimla (Census 2011)

Largest towns in Shimla (Census 2011)
  1. Shimla 1,69,578
  2. Rohru 6,875
  3. Rampur 5,655
  4. Jhakhri CT 4,655
  5. Theog 4,353
  6. Seoni 2,591
  7. Jutogh Cantonment 2,062
  8. Chaupal 1,851
  9. Jubbal 1,640
  10. Kotkhai 1,190

How people in Shimla worked (Census 2011)

Cultivators

58.0%

Agricultural labourers

6.1%

Household industry

1.8%

Other work

34.1%

Share of all workers, main and marginal. Work participation: 52.9%.

Age structure of Shimla

Population in five-year age groups, Census 2011. Men on the left, women on the right. Census 2011 Census 2011, as published. How this is made →

Age structure of Shimla
MenWomen
  1. 80+
  2. 75-79
  3. 70-74
  4. 65-69
  5. 60-64
  6. 55-59
  7. 50-54
  8. 45-49
  9. 40-44
  10. 35-39
  11. 30-34
  12. 25-29
  13. 20-24
  14. 15-19
  15. 10-14
  16. 5-9
  17. 0-4
› Show the numbers as a table
AgeMenWomen
0-429,08326,818
5-933,96031,403
10-1437,62534,313
15-1939,06735,185
20-2442,62539,498
25-2939,51336,631
30-3436,10233,000
35-3933,89131,021
40-4430,18027,629
45-4926,43123,702
50-5422,25619,411
55-5916,90614,294
60-6412,73712,083
65-698,5158,421
70-746,8796,791
75-794,0433,782
80+4,7944,665
Children (0–14)
23.8%
Himachal Pradesh 25.9%
Working age (15–59)
67.3%
Himachal Pradesh 63.8%
Older people (60+)
8.9%
Himachal Pradesh 10.3%
Median age
28.7years
Himachal Pradesh 28.1
Dependency ratio
42.1
children and 65+ per 100 aged 15–64
Himachal Pradesh 48.8

Languages spoken in Shimla

Share of people by mother tongue, grouped into languages as the Census does. 63 languages recorded. Census 2011 Census 2011, as published. How this is made →

Languages spoken in Shimla
  1. Hindi 92.1%
  2. Nepali 4.6%
  3. Punjabi 1.4%
  4. Kinnauri 0.4%
  5. Urdu 0.3%
  6. Tibetan 0.2%
  7. Kashmiri 0.1%
  8. Bengali 0.1%
  9. All other languages 0.6%

Largest mother tongues

  1. Pahari67.6%
  2. Hindi20.3%
  3. Nepali4.6%
  4. Punjabi1.4%
  5. Kangri1.1%
  6. Mandeali0.8%
  7. Bhojpuri0.6%
  8. Kinnauri0.4%

Housing and amenities in Shimla

Share of households, Houselisting Census 2011. Census 2011 Census 2011, as published. How this is made →

Basic services

  • Electricity for lighting 95.6%

    Himachal Pradesh 96.8%

  • Tap water 92.1%

    Himachal Pradesh 89.5%

  • Water source within premises 56.5%

    Himachal Pradesh 55.5%

  • Toilet within premises 68.3%

    Himachal Pradesh 69.1%

  • Open defecation (no latrine) (Lower is better for this one.) 29.2%

    Himachal Pradesh 29.7%

  • Bathing area within premises 84.8%

    Himachal Pradesh 74.8%

  • Closed drainage 52.4%

    Himachal Pradesh 24.9%

  • Cooking with LPG/PNG 60.2%

    Himachal Pradesh 38.6%

  • Cooking with wood, crop waste or dung (Lower is better for this one.) 36.1%

    Himachal Pradesh 58.7%

What households own

  • Mobile phone 85.6%

    Himachal Pradesh 74.9%

  • Television 72.7%

    Himachal Pradesh 74.4%

  • Scooter or motorcycle 4.5%

    Himachal Pradesh 15.5%

  • Computer or laptop 13.4%

    Himachal Pradesh 8.4%

  • Car, jeep or van 12.8%

    Himachal Pradesh 8.3%

  • Use banking services 84.8%

    Himachal Pradesh 89.1%

  • None of the listed assets (Lower is better for this one.) 5.9%

    Himachal Pradesh 8.9%

The home itself

  • Own their home 70.0%

    Himachal Pradesh 87.2%

  • Rent their home 24.5%

    Himachal Pradesh 10.3%

  • Permanent (pucca) house 87.9%

    Himachal Pradesh 76.9%

  • House in good condition 75.3%

    Himachal Pradesh 72.4%

  • Concrete roof 24.7%

    Himachal Pradesh 44.7%

  • Cement or tiled floor 49.6%

    Himachal Pradesh 58.0%

  • One room or less (Lower is better for this one.) 24.9%

    Himachal Pradesh 20.7%

Himachal Pradesh

What the numbers say

  • Shimla district held 11.9% of Himachal Pradesh's population in 2011, 3rd of 12 districts.
  • Literacy is 83.6%, 0.8 points above the Himachal Pradesh average of 82.8%.
  • The sex ratio of 915 females per 1,000 males is lower than the state's 972.
  • 24.7% of residents lived in towns in 2011, more urban than Himachal Pradesh as a whole (10.0%).
  • Our 2026 estimate, ≈8.97 lakh, implies growth of about 10% since 2011; it is tied to the official Himachal Pradesh projection.
  • Its largest town, Shimla, had 1.7 lakh people in 2011, 20.8% of the district.

Compare with

All districts of Himachal Pradesh →

Census 2027 status

Results pending

  1. Phase I: houselisting

    Done (16 June 2026 – 15 July 2026)

  2. Phase II: counting people

    Snow-bound areas: September 2026. Rest: February 2027

  3. Results

    Not yet released. In 2011, first figures came about a month after counting ended.

When the Registrar General publishes Census 2027 figures for Shimla, they will appear on this page, at this address. Census 2027 explained →

Population by religion in Shimla (Census 2011)

Official figures as published by the Office of the Registrar General. Shown without commentary. Census 2011 Census 2011, as published. How this is made →

Population by religion in Shimla (Census 2011)
ReligionPersonsShareHimachal Pradesh
Hindu 7,91,449 97.2% 95.2%
Muslim 11,810 1.5% 2.2%
Christian 2,025 0.2% 0.2%
Sikh 4,047 0.5% 1.2%
Buddhist 3,262 0.4% 1.1%
Jain 185 0.0% 0.0%
Other religions and persuasions 197 0.0% 0.0%
Religion not stated 1,035 0.1% 0.1%
Total8,14,010100%

Frequently asked questions

What is the population of Shimla district in 2026?
Our estimate for 1 March 2026 is ≈8,97,000 (8.97 lakh). It is not an official figure: it applies Shimla's 2001–2011 trend, damped, to the official Himachal Pradesh projection (method M1). Census 2011 counted 8,14,010.

What was the population of Shimla district in Census 2011?
8,14,010: 4,25,039 males and 3,88,971 females, of whom 2,01,351 lived in towns and 6,12,659 in villages.

What is the literacy rate and sex ratio of Shimla?
Literacy was 83.6% in 2011 (men 89.6%, women 77.1%). The sex ratio was 915 females per 1,000 males, and 925 among children aged 0–6.

Which is the largest town in Shimla district?
Shimla, with 1,69,578 people in Census 2011.

How many villages and towns are in Shimla district?
On today's boundaries the district contains 3,231 Census 2011 villages and 11 towns.

⤓ Download Himachal Pradesh district data (CSV)

Sources and method

Data updated: · Report a correction