Photo: Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Rufford is over 55.4, older than 97% of UK towns
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. Rufford is home to 257 residents in 104 households, by the 2021 Census. One-person households account for 13%. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%; Rufford has 19%.
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across England’s towns the figure is 12%. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
Only 4% of adults are full-time students in Rufford
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 46% of Rufford’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 16%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 8.3% here.
Larger households than 85% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 5.8%, above 97% of UK towns. At the same time, fewer households with dependent children than in 63% of UK towns: 26%.
In Rufford, 1% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 99% 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, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Rufford has 82%. In Rufford, 4.8% of households live in a terraced house. Typically, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Only 3.1% of Rufford’s residents were born outside the UK
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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%; Rufford has 99%. Set beside that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (2%) and in EU countries (0.8%).
Above 76% of UK towns: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 95% of Rufford · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Indian (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Other White (1.2%). Rufford has more residents who describe themselves as Christian than 67% of UK towns, at 53%. As a yardstick, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Rufford has 38%.
More unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns: 16%
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
Married adults and civil partners: 68% here and 44% across England’s towns. On average, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Some 10 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Among adults, 43% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
43% of Rufford’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 13% have none (18%).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Rufford
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rufford | 257 | — | 55.4 | 28% | 26% |
| Edwinstowe | 5,327 | 1.8 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 23% |
| Bilsthorpe | 3,490 | 2.4 mi | 46.6 | 21% | 26% |
| New Ollerton and Ollerton | 10,870 | 2.5 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Walesby | 1,217 | 4.4 mi | 56.4 | 35% | 18% |
| Forest Town | 19,015 | 4.6 mi | 40.2 | 17% | 31% |
| Farnsfield | 3,217 | 4.8 mi | 48.9 | 28% | 28% |
| Rainworth | 7,990 | 5 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 28% |
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 Rufford’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 Rufford’s residents
What is the population of Rufford?
The 2021 Census counted 257 people in Rufford’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Rufford?
The median age was 55.4 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rufford?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rufford?
38% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.8% didn’t answer.
Is Rufford good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Rufford’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.