Photo: Robert Lacey · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of UK towns: 18% of households are one person living alone
2.2% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. In 2021, the Census found 804 residents in Beeston, living in 319 households. Households without a car or van account for 6.6%. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 56%, more than in 91% of UK towns.
Beeston is older than 61% of UK towns: a median age of 46
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. Residents aged 65 and over account for 22%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 88% of UK towns: 6.8%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 37% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 21% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). On full-time students, Beeston sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 6%. Set beside that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Beeston households average 2.5 people, larger than in 92% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Bedfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Nothing unusual on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.5%, close to the figure across England’s towns. The census found that 28% of households have dependent children in Beeston.
Households in detached houses make up 35% in Beeston, more than in 65% of UK towns
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
Just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 69% of UK towns: 98%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns the share born abroad is 18%; in Beeston it is 5%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.2%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). On average, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents with no religion make up 43% in Beeston, more than in 67% of UK towns
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: 92% of Beeston · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 37% across England’s towns. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (1.3%).
10% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 73% 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
20 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The usual figure: nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Beeston comes in at 32%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 28%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Beeston, 28%, and 14% have none, against 18%.
Beeston is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beeston | 804 | — | 46 | 22% | 28% |
| Sandy | 11,375 | 0.8 mi | 41.9 | 18% | 30% |
| Upper Caldecote | 1,333 | 1.7 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 26% |
| Blunham | 1,391 | 2.1 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 30% |
| Biggleswade | 21,945 | 2.9 mi | 37.7 | 15% | 31% |
| Potton | 5,229 | 3.3 mi | 43 | 20% | 29% |
| Great Barford | 2,254 | 3.4 mi | 44.7 | 20% | 33% |
| Langford | 3,712 | 4.8 mi | 45.2 | 22% | 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.
- “Bedfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Bedfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Beeston’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 Beeston’s residents
What is the population of Beeston?
The 2021 Census counted 804 people in Beeston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Beeston?
The median age was 46 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Beeston?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Beeston?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Beeston good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Beeston’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.