Photo: David Hallam-Jones · CC BY-SA 2.048% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 88% of UK towns
Households in detached houses make up 38%, against 21% across England’s towns. Arnold counted 40,016 residents and 17,378 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, just over a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. With a median age of 43.4, Arnold is younger than 58% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Arnold’s people
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 42% 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.
A change of +3% since 2011 leaves Arnold behind 69% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Arnold’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 38,100 people in 2011; 39,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+19%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−10%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2012 to mid-2013, 480 people.
21% of residents are 65 or over, below 53% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.2% of residents. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 52% of UK towns: 9.7%. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Collingham, the oldest of Nottinghamshire’s towns by this measure, it is 36%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Arnold, 43.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
7.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 78% of UK towns
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%.
36% of Arnold’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% across England’s towns. Across Arnold, 5.2% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A larger share of households with dependent children than 58% of UK towns: 28%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Nottinghamshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 2.4% in Arnold. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 30%, more than in 52% of UK towns.
More households without a car or van than 75% of UK towns: 21%
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
Where 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, Arnold has 12%. Every 5th household or so has no car or van. In Arnold, 16% of households live in a terraced house.
In Arnold, 96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 70% 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
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 13% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). The census found that 8.3% of residents were born outside the UK in Arnold. The wider picture: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
In Arnold, 42% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 90% 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: 84% of Arnold · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (3.7%) and Indian (2.2%). 84% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 80% of UK towns. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
In Arnold, 10% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 77% 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
46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. The share of unpaid carers across England’s towns is 8.7%.
Among adults, 33% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Arnold, 33% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 32 in Gedling North to 50 in Bestwood Village
The town’s 9 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bestwood Village is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Gedling North the youngest (median age 32). Families with children are most common in Gedling North (49% of households).
Ranked by age, 51st oldest of 182 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Arnold in age: Harpenden (43.2), Newton Abbot (43.2), Jarrow (43.5) and Fulwood (43.5).
Arnold sits below 3 of its 7 closest neighbours on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold | 40,016 | — | 43.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Carlton | 53,555 | 2.3 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Bestwood Village | 2,151 | 2.8 mi | 39.2 | 16% | 33% |
| Nottingham | 299,786 | 3 mi | 30.9 | 11% | 28% |
| Calverton | 7,318 | 3 mi | 45.4 | 23% | 28% |
| Woodborough | 1,649 | 3 mi | 55.8 | 35% | 23% |
| Hucknall | 35,848 | 4.3 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 29% |
| Nuthall and Watnall | 9,581 | 4.8 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 29% |
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.
- “Nottinghamshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Nottinghamshire (or England), summed the same way as Arnold’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. Arnold’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 39,186 people in 2021, against 40,016 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 Arnold’s residents
What is the population of Arnold?
The 2021 Census counted 40,016 people in Arnold’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 39,400 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Arnold?
The median age was 43.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 58% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Arnold?
84% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 8.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Arnold?
48% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.9% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Arnold good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Gedling North (49% of households). Schools are on Arnold’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.