Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 41%, a lower share than 91% of UK towns
Nearly a quarter of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%. The 2021 Census put Beeston’s population at 52,359, in 22,600 households. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 5.5%. With a median age of 41.4, Beeston is younger than 73% of UK towns.
+6% since 2011, a pace below 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Beeston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 52,200 people in 2011; 55,100 in 2024.
Split by age, the 16 to 29 changed most (+16%) and the 45 to 64 least (−2%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2021 to mid-2022, 1,200 people.
A young town: 13% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 20–24, with 7% of residents. The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 21% in Beeston and 18% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Beeston, 41.4. 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.
11% of adults are full-time students, more than in 97% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 12%, against 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 64% of UK towns
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.
One-person households make up 31%, against 30% across England’s towns.
Households without a car or van: 22%, a higher share than 81% 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
23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns, against 15% in Beeston. For Beeston, the census puts households in terraced houses at 16%. Measured more widely, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
15% of residents were born outside the UK, a share 86% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (5.6%), then in EU countries (5.5%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. At 93%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in 86% of UK towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 27% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 86% of UK towns, at 79%
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: 79% of Beeston · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (6.4%), Mixed or multiple (3.1%) and Indian (2.8%). To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents with no religion: 46% here, more than in four fifths of UK towns.
38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
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
In Beeston, 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, beside 44% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 1,146 people. The town has fewer unpaid carers than 62% of UK towns, at 8.9%.
Qualified to degree level: 42% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
14% of Beeston’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 42% have one at degree level (34%). For 18%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 34 in Beeston Town to 50 in Bramcote
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Bramcote is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Beeston Town the youngest (median age 34). Families with children are most common in Toton (28% of households).
Ranked by age, 55th oldest of 125 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 Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Lytham St Anne's (54.4), the oldest. Nearest to Beeston in age: Wrexham (41.2), Folkestone (41.3), Trowbridge (41.4) and Haywards Heath (41.4).
Older than Beeston: 5 of the 7 towns nearby
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 | 52,359 | — | 41.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Stapleford | 15,041 | 1.8 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 28% |
| Clifton | 22,936 | 2.4 mi | 36.1 | 17% | 28% |
| Trowell | 2,165 | 2.5 mi | 51.7 | 29% | 22% |
| Sandiacre | 9,373 | 2.6 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 27% |
| Wilford | 4,849 | 2.9 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 27% |
| Long Eaton | 37,815 | 3 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Ruddington | 7,491 | 3.8 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 30% |
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 Beeston’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. Beeston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 52,910 people in 2021, against 52,359 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 Beeston’s residents
What is the population of Beeston?
The 2021 Census counted 52,359 people in Beeston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 55,100 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Beeston?
The median age was 41.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 73% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Beeston?
79% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Beeston?
46% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 3.3% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Beeston good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Toton (28% of households). 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) · 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.