Photo: Graham Hogg · CC BY-SA 2.0Selston sits above 98% of UK towns for unpaid carers (12%)
Compared with 21% across England’s towns, 43% of households live in a detached house here. There were 2,698 households in Selston at the 2021 Census, home to 6,278 residents. Households in terraced houses: 8.5% of the total. 25% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 75% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Selston’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Selston at 6,800 in 2011 and 6,500 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 95% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Many carers
741 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 98% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
More with no religion than most
48% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 46% 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.
Slower growth than 95% of UK towns: Selston changed by −4% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Selston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,800 people in 2011; 6,500 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+24%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−18%).
A median age of 47.7: Selston is older than 73% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8.2% of residents. Higher than in 70% of UK towns: 25% of residents are 65 or over. Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Selston, 47.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6.3% in Selston, less than in 94% 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%.
The share of full-time students trails 84% of UK towns: 4%. Against that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Below 79% of UK towns: 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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 figure for one-person households is 28% in Selston and 30% across England’s towns. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
4.5% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 85% 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
Against a figure of 24% across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Selston comes in at 14%. Households in flats make up 23% across England’s towns.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 95% of UK towns: 2.7%
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 EU countries (1.5%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). The usual figure: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Selston has more residents whose main language is English than 88% of UK towns, at 99%. Of residents born abroad, 6.8% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 91% 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: 96% of Selston · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 48%, against 37% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 46%.
Adults who have never married make up 32% in Selston, less than in 54% 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 261. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison. 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership (England’s towns: 44%).
20% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Selston counts 20% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 25% have no qualification (18%).
624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people: this is the 218th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Selston in age: South Molton (47.6), Hamble-le-Rice (47.6), Borrowash (47.7) and Bourton-on-the-Water (47.7).
Median age: 3 of the 7 towns around Selston are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selston | 6,278 | — | 47.7 | 25% | 25% |
| Jacksdale and Westwood | 2,758 | 1.6 mi | 48 | 23% | 24% |
| Brinsley and Underwood | 4,514 | 2 mi | 51 | 29% | 21% |
| Annesley Woodhouse | 6,162 | 2.1 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 23% |
| South Normanton and Pinxton | 16,028 | 2.1 mi | 43.8 | 19% | 25% |
| Ironville | 1,824 | 2.2 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 26% |
| Kirkby-in-Ashfield | 21,262 | 2.7 mi | 40.5 | 18% | 30% |
| Newstead | 2,204 | 2.9 mi | 34.4 | 11% | 34% |
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 Selston’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. Selston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,584 people in 2021, against 6,278 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 Selston’s residents
What is the population of Selston?
The 2021 Census counted 6,278 people in Selston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,500 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Selston?
The median age was 47.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 73% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Selston?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Selston?
48% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Selston good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Selston’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. 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.