Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0No religion: 53% of residents, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
Married people and civil partners make up 41% of adults, against 44% across England’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 38,723 residents in 17,233 households. The census found that just over a quarter of households live in a terraced house in Ilkeston. Half of the town’s residents are under 40.9, younger than in 76% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Ilkeston’s people
More with no religion than most
53% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 40% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
Ilkeston changed by +4% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 69% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ilkeston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 37,400 people in 2011; 38,800 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2023: 370 more people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+16%) and 16 to 29 least (−4%).
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 84% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Ilkeston sits close to the norm on residents aged 65 and over: 18%, about the same as across England’s towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.5% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ilkeston, 40.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 63% of UK towns: 4.5%
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 account for 23% of Ilkeston’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 35%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 8.3%, fewer than in 57% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Ilkeston households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 66% of UK towns
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.
Here 31% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across England’s towns is 30%. 27% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.3% of the total.
23% of households have no car or van, a share 84% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Flats are home to 8.9% of households, against 23% across England’s towns. Typically, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. A fifth of households live in a detached house.
Residents born outside the UK make up 4.6% in Ilkeston, less than in 68% of UK towns
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
Of residents born abroad, 16% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 98%, fewer than in 52% of UK towns. The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across England’s towns: 18%.
Ilkeston ranks below 93% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 40%
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: 94% of Ilkeston · Derbyshire’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents who describe themselves as White British (94%), Ilkeston is above nearly two thirds of UK towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Indian (0.4%).
Adults who have never married: 40%, a higher share than 88% 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
1,276 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Higher than in 70% of UK towns: 10% of residents give unpaid care. Elsewhere, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 20%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 20% of its adults qualified to degree level, Ilkeston compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 23% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in Hallam Fields & Greenwood Ave to 51 in West Hallam
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
West Hallam is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Hallam Fields & Greenwood Ave the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Hallam Fields & Greenwood Ave (29% of households).
Ranked by age, 77th youngest of 189 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Ilkeston in age: Spalding (40.7), Leigh (40.8), West Bridgford (40.9) and Wallsend (41.1).
Around Ilkeston, 6 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilkeston | 38,723 | — | 40.9 | 18% | 27% |
| Awsworth | 2,444 | 1.6 mi | 45 | 22% | 24% |
| West Hallam | 5,912 | 2.2 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 23% |
| Trowell | 2,165 | 2.3 mi | 51.7 | 29% | 22% |
| Eastwood | 18,890 | 2.8 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 24% |
| Kimberley | 4,467 | 2.8 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 24% |
| Heanor | 24,264 | 3.2 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 26% |
| Stapleford | 15,041 | 3.3 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Ilkeston’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. Ilkeston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 38,074 people in 2021, against 38,723 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 Ilkeston’s residents
What is the population of Ilkeston?
The 2021 Census counted 38,723 people in Ilkeston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 38,800 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ilkeston?
The median age was 40.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 76% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ilkeston?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Derbyshire’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ilkeston?
53% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Ilkeston good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Hallam Fields & Greenwood Ave (29% of households). Schools are on Ilkeston’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.