Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 40,016 in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands. 40% of households own their home outright.
Arnold grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 67% of UK towns, and #15 of 49 in Nottinghamshire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 23% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (C+): life expectancy 80.1 for men, 83.7 for women. The median home sold for £245,000 in the last three years, 4.8 times what households in the Gedling council area earn in a year.
The thing Arnold does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Arnold is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 21 buildings inside Arnold’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Arnold. Best known first.
CastleNottingham Castle4.2 km outside town, to the south
CathedralNottingham Cathedral3.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Art galleryNottingham Contemporary3.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumJudges Retiring Room3.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumNew Art Exchange2.9 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumGreen's Windmill & Science Centre3.5 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Arnold.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
3.2% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, above both Nottinghamshire’s towns (2.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%). About 17% of its commuters stay in Arnold for work. There are 0.6 jobs in Arnold for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Three of its 17 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 64% of pupils at the town’s 10 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Arnold’s 13 primaries and three secondaries have 7,419 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary, ArnoldLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 454 | A− |
| Redhill AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,582 | B |
| Killisick Junior SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 191 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 7% of the total, below Nottinghamshire’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. Grade II* covers 3 of them. Scaled to its population, that is 5 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Arnold.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Private tenants account for 15% of households. 11% live in social housing, lower than both Nottinghamshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Also worth knowing: the £245,000 median rests on 1,663 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £335,000 | 662 |
| Semi-detached | £230,000 | 549 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 293 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 159 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
4 GP practices serve the town; 77% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Arnold is Queen's Medical Centre, 4.8 miles away. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 5.1% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Arnold | Nottinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 19% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
For its size, Arnold records less crime per resident than 70% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Violence accounts for 26.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 2,508 crimes and 605 reports of anti-social behaviour inside the town’s built-up area. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 16.7 reports per 1,000, above Nottinghamshire’s towns (10.7) and England’s towns (7.8) alike.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Ages in Arnold split evenly at 43.4: half are older, half younger. People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, above both Nottinghamshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Among adults, 33% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Arnold | Nottinghamshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 20% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Nottinghamshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
21 listed buildings in Arnold.
Church of St Mary: Photo: Oxymoron · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Paul: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Vale Hotel (Public House): Photo: David Lally · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Former J and R Morley Hosiery Factory: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0
18 notable people were born in Arnold.
Richard Parkes Bonington: Margaret Sarah Carpenter, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold | 40,016 | — | B+ | B | C+ | C+ |
| Carlton | 53,555 | 2.3 | B+ | B | B− | C |
| Bestwood Village | 2,151 | 2.8 | — | B+ | C | C |
| Nottingham | 299,786 | 3 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Calverton | 7,318 | 3 | C+ | B− | B− | C+ |
| Woodborough | 1,649 | 3 | — | D | A+ | B− |
| Hucknall | 35,848 | 4.3 | C− | C+ | C− | C− |
| Nuthall and Watnall | 9,581 | 4.8 | B | C+ | B+ | B− |
Bestwood Village and Woodborough have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C+. Police recorded 2,508 crimes inside Arnold’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 40% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Band D council tax in Arnold is £2,592 for 2026–27, more than in 83% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
GCSE results beat 62% of towns in England, and primary results beat 66% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in Nottinghamshire, England
Arnold is a built-up area of 40,016 people, in the Gedling council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.