Kingsway Hall · Photo: Enchufla Con Clave · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in flats: 2.2%, a lower share than 96% of UK towns
The median age in Forest Town is 40.2, lower than in 79% of UK towns. The town’s 7,826 households held 19,015 residents at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households in detached houses at 42% locally. A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4.
What the Census says about Forest Town’s people
More with no religion than most
49% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 44% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Many carers
2,098 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 95% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Forest Town at 16,600 in 2011 and 19,800 in 2024, up 20%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 86% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Faster growth than 86% of UK towns: Forest Town changed by +20% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Forest Town’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,600 people in 2011; 19,800 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2015 to mid-2016, up 510 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+33%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+2%).
In Forest Town, 17% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 7.5% of residents. Across the comparison, 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+
■ Forest Town, 40.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of full-time students than 55% of UK towns, at 4.7%
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 27% of Forest Town’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 32%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, 8.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
One-person households make up 25% in Forest Town, less than in 87% 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 2.5%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Here, 31% of households have dependent children.
Only 14% of households live in a terraced house in Forest Town
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
24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 14% in Forest Town.
Forest Town sits below 65% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (97%)
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
5.9% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%.
49% said they have no religion, more than in 92% 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: 92% of Forest Town · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian trails 83% of UK towns: 44%. Next after White British come Other White (3.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and African (0.7%). On average, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 95% of UK towns, at 12%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 629 people. To put it in context, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Adults who have never married make up 33%, against 39% across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Forest Town’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 34 in Edwinstowe & Clipstone to 52 in Yeoman Hill & Maun Valley
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Yeoman Hill & Maun Valley is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Edwinstowe & Clipstone the youngest (median age 34). Families with children are most common in Edwinstowe & Clipstone (39% of households).
50th youngest of 336 UK towns of 13,000 to 26,000 people
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Forest Town in age: Wath upon Dearne (39.9), Coalville (39.9), Newmarket (40.2) and Stowmarket (40.2).
6 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Forest Town
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Town | 19,015 | — | 40.2 | 17% | 31% |
| Mansfield Woodhouse | 19,521 | 2 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 27% |
| Mansfield | 63,448 | 2.6 mi | 41 | 18% | 27% |
| Market Warsop | 6,970 | 3 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 29% |
| Rainworth | 7,990 | 3.2 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Church Warsop | 2,139 | 3.8 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 27% |
| Edwinstowe | 5,327 | 3.8 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 23% |
| Meden Vale | 2,095 | 4.3 mi | 37.7 | 15% | 31% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Forest Town’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. Forest Town’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,327 people in 2021, against 19,015 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 Forest Town’s residents
What is the population of Forest Town?
The 2021 Census counted 19,015 people in Forest Town’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,800 people in mid-2024, 20% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Forest Town?
The median age was 40.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Forest Town?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Forest Town?
49% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Forest Town good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Edwinstowe & Clipstone (39% of households). Schools are on Forest Town’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.