Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0Orston is older than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 52.4
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. 17% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 99% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 515 residents in 206 households. The census found that 0.5% of households live in a flat or apartment in Orston.
Below 99% of UK towns: 6.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
27% of residents are 65 or over (England’s towns: 18%). Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 74% 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%.
5% of adults are full-time students, against 7.9% across England’s towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns: 11%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.4 people per household, more than in 81% 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.
26% of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%.
Households in detached houses: 59%, a higher share than 96% 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
Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house; in Orston, 9.5%. In Orston, 7.1% of households have no car or van. 0.5% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 59% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Orston: 100% of residents have English as their main language, above 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 3.3% of residents were born outside the UK in Orston. By way of comparison, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%).
A larger share of residents with no religion than 69% of UK towns: 44%
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 Orston · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White British are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (2.3%) and Indian (0.4%). Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 94%, more than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. The wider picture: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
63% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 99% 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
Nearly a quarter of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). Meanwhile, at 9.9%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 13 residents.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 49% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 49% of its adults qualified to degree level, Orston compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 8.9% hold no qualification (18%).
Around Orston, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orston | 515 | — | 52.4 | 27% | 26% |
| Aslockton | 2,173 | 2.1 mi | 48.1 | 21% | 25% |
| Bottesford | 3,046 | 2.6 mi | 51.6 | 29% | 25% |
| Bingham | 10,109 | 4.4 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 30% |
| Long Bennington | 2,149 | 4.7 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 24% |
| East Bridgford | 1,763 | 4.7 mi | 52 | 30% | 23% |
| Cropwell Bishop | 1,903 | 6.2 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 26% |
| Lowdham | 1,844 | 7 mi | 55.4 | 32% | 23% |
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 Orston’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Orston’s residents
What is the population of Orston?
The 2021 Census counted 515 people in Orston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Orston?
The median age was 52.4 at the 2021 Census. 6.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Orston?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 3.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Orston?
44% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 3.7% didn’t answer.
Is Orston good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Orston’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). 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.