Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0Wilford ranks below 87% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 11%
Set against 12% across England’s towns, 8.6% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Wilford. This Nottinghamshire town has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 82% of UK towns, at 83%. There were 2,115 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 4,849 residents. In Wilford, 7.5% of households live in a flat or apartment.
A +8% change since 2011: Wilford grew faster than 55% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wilford’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,400 people in 2011; 4,800 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2015: 110 more people. The 0 to 15 group saw the biggest change (+21%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−8%).
Half of Wilford is under 43.9, younger than 55% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 7.5% of residents. In Collingham, the oldest of Nottinghamshire’s towns by this measure, it is 36%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wilford, 43.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Wilford ranks above 82% of UK towns on full-time students: 5.9%
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%.
Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, against 9.6% in Wilford. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Wilford, 28% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 69% 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.
27% of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. At the same time, on shared households of unrelated adults, Wilford sits higher than 60% of UK towns: 2.6%. The share of one-person households across England’s towns is 30%. Households average 2.3 people.
More households in detached houses than 70% of UK towns: 37%
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
Households without a car or van: 15% of the total. 7.5% of households live in a flat, less than in 69% of UK towns; 37% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 78% of UK towns: 11%
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
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: 17% of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. Locally, 95% of residents have English as their main language. To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Only 47% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Wilford
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: 83% of Wilford · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
2.5% of residents said their religion is Muslim. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Asked about religion, 41% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns.
51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a share 69% 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
Unpaid carers make up 8.3%, close to the figure across England’s towns. For 108 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. The wider picture: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 39%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 39% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 16% hold no qualification (18%).
248th lowest median age among 810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000
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 Wilford in age: Woburn Sands (43.8), Thorpe Willoughby (43.9), Lane End (43.9) and Iver Heath (43.9).
Of the 7 towns nearest Wilford, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilford | 4,849 | — | 43.9 | 22% | 27% |
| West Bridgford | 36,489 | 1.4 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 30% |
| Clifton | 22,936 | 1.5 mi | 36.1 | 17% | 28% |
| Ruddington | 7,491 | 2 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 30% |
| Edwalton | 4,762 | 2 mi | 38.7 | 17% | 36% |
| Gamston (Rushcliffe) | 2,171 | 2.5 mi | 40.4 | 14% | 30% |
| Beeston | 52,359 | 2.9 mi | 41.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Tollerton | 1,976 | 3.1 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 28% |
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 Wilford’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. Wilford’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,849 people in 2021, against 4,849 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 Wilford’s residents
What is the population of Wilford?
The 2021 Census counted 4,849 people in Wilford’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,800 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wilford?
The median age was 43.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 55% of UK towns. 8.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wilford?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wilford?
41% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Wilford good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wilford’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.