Photo: Malcolm Neal · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 37.4: Derby is younger than 91% of UK towns
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 40%. Households in flats are more common here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Derby’s population at 275,561, in 111,188 households.
What the Census says about Derby’s people
More born abroad than anywhere else in Derbyshire
19% of residents were born outside the UK, against 8.6% across Derbyshire’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (8.3%) and in EU countries (7.4%). Where people were born ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Derby’s residents are under 37.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 13% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
+13% since 2011, a pace 71% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Derby’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 258,500 people in 2011; 292,300 in 2024.
By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+21%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+3%). No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 6,700.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 16% in Derby, less than in 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
30–34 is the most common age band: 7.2% of residents. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Derby has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 95% of UK towns, at 13%. In Bakewell, the oldest of Derbyshire’s towns by this measure, it is 38%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Derby, 37.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Derby sits above 95% of UK towns for full-time students (8.9%)
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%.
Across England’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%; Derby has 10%. The wider picture: 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.
More shared houses than 92% of UK towns: 4% of households
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Derbyshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The figure for households with dependent children is 30% in Derby and 29% across England’s towns. Few places have as many one-person households: 31% here, more than in 58% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
More households without a car or van than 87% of UK towns: 25%
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
By its share of households in terraced houses (21%), Derby is above 54% of UK towns. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Fewer households in detached houses than in 60% of UK towns: 25%.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 95% of UK towns: 87%
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 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (8.3%) and in EU countries (7.4%). Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. Nearly a fifth of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 92% of UK towns.
66% of residents describe themselves as White British, below 94% 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: 66% of Derby · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Derby sits close to the norm on residents with no religion: 37%, about the same as across England’s towns. 11% of residents said their religion is Muslim. As a reference point, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 40%, a higher share than 90% 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
Compared with 44% across England’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 7,269 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Few places have so few unpaid carers: 8.9% here, fewer than in 62% of UK towns.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 30% of Derby’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%). A levels are as far as 17% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
From a median age of 28 in Little Chester to 52 in Allestree South
The city’s 35 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Allestree South is the oldest area, with 32% aged 65 or over; Little Chester the youngest (median age 28). Students cluster in Little Chester, where 34% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Normanton North & Peartree (50% of households).
14th highest median age among 45 UK towns of 193,000 to 372,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tower Hamlets is the youngest (30.8); Bromley the oldest (41.2). Nearest to Derby in age: Hillingdon (37), Kingston upon Hull (37.1), Enfield (37.5) and Merton (37.5).
No nearby town is as young as Derby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | 275,561 | — | 37.4 | 16% | 30% |
| Findern | 1,608 | 3.9 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 22% |
| Borrowash | 7,171 | 4.2 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 26% |
| Little Eaton | 1,875 | 4.2 mi | 49.7 | 25% | 28% |
| Aston-on-Trent | 2,433 | 5 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 26% |
| Makeney | 4,691 | 5.3 mi | 48.1 | 25% | 31% |
| Willington | 2,717 | 5.4 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 27% |
| Etwall | 3,080 | 5.6 mi | 44.2 | 23% | 31% |
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.
- “Derbyshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Derbyshire (or England), summed the same way as Derby’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. Derby’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 276,243 people in 2021, against 275,561 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 Derby’s residents
What is the population of Derby?
The 2021 Census counted 275,561 people in Derby’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 292,300 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Derby?
The median age was 37.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 91% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Derby?
66% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 19% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Derby?
37% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 11% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Derby good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Normanton North & Peartree (50% of households). Schools are on Derby’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.