People living in Rushcliffe can expect around a decade more in good health than residents of neighbouring Nottingham, according to newly published figures.
The Office for National Statistics has calculated healthy life expectancy for more than 7,000 local areas across England and Wales, using mortality information from 2019 to 2023 and health information collected through the 2021 Census.
Across Rushcliffe, healthy life expectancy at birth was estimated at 69.5 years for men and 71.2 years for women.
In Nottingham, the corresponding estimates were 59.5 years for men and 60.7 years for women.
This leaves a gap of ten years between men in the two council areas and 10.5 years between women.
Overall life expectancy also differed significantly. Men in Rushcliffe had an estimated life expectancy of 81.5 years, compared with 76.2 years in Nottingham — a difference of 5.3 years.
For women, overall life expectancy was 84.9 years in Rushcliffe and 80.7 years in Nottingham, producing a gap of 4.2 years.
The figures indicate that people in Nottingham not only have shorter overall lives on average, but can also expect to spend a greater proportion of them in poorer health.
By subtracting healthy life expectancy from overall life expectancy, men in Rushcliffe could expect around 12 years outside good health, compared with approximately 16.7 years in Nottingham.
For women, the estimated figures were 13.7 years in Rushcliffe and 20 years in Nottingham.
However, the ONS says healthy life expectancy does not mean that everybody remains healthy until a particular age and then becomes unwell. It is a population measure showing the average number of years expected to be spent in “very good” or “good” general health.
The new dataset divides the country into Middle Layer Super Output Areas, generally containing between 5,000 and 15,000 people, allowing significant differences within individual council areas to be identified.
In Rushcliffe, Cotgrave had the borough’s lowest healthy life expectancy estimate for both sexes, at 65.3 years for men and 65.4 years for women.
The highest estimate for men was 73.8 years in Keyworth North, Tollerton and Willoughby, while East Bridgford and Aslockton had the highest figure for women at 74.3 years.
This produced a difference of 8.5 years between Rushcliffe’s highest and lowest male estimates and 8.9 years between its female estimates.
The variation within Nottingham was considerably wider.
Men in the Arboretum, Forest and Trent University area had a healthy life expectancy of 48.9 years, compared with 70.5 years in Wollaton Vale — a difference of 21.6 years within the same city.
For women, healthy life expectancy ranged from 52.7 years in Beechdale to 71.3 years in Wollaton Vale, a gap of 18.6 years.
The Arboretum, Forest and Trent University estimate was 54 years for women.
Even Rushcliffe’s lowest male estimate, recorded in Cotgrave, was 16.4 years above the figure for the Arboretum, Forest and Trent University area. The corresponding difference for women was 11.4 years.
Closer to the River Trent, men in the West Bridgford statistical area had a healthy life expectancy of 66.6 years, while the figure for women was 71.1 years.
Lady Bay recorded estimates of 71.2 years for men and 72 years for women, while Gamston and Holme Pierrepont recorded 70 years and 71.2 years respectively.
In Compton Acres and Lutterell, healthy life expectancy was estimated at 69.1 years for men and 70.4 years for women. Edwalton recorded 68.9 years for men and 70.9 years for women.
However, the data also shows that the divide does not follow the council boundary in every case. Wollaton Vale’s figures were comparable with several of the higher-performing parts of Rushcliffe, while Wilford and Silverdale recorded 66.5 years for men and 69.6 years for women.
Across England’s small statistical areas, median healthy life expectancy was 65.3 years for men and 66.8 years for women. Rushcliffe was above these national median figures, while Nottingham as a whole was below them.
Disability-free life expectancy showed a similar pattern. Men in Rushcliffe could expect 69.2 years without an illness or health condition limiting their daily activities, compared with 61.3 years in Nottingham.
For women, disability-free life expectancy was 69.5 years in Rushcliffe and 61.8 years in the city.
The ONS says the estimates should be interpreted alongside their confidence intervals because greater uncertainty applies to figures covering small populations.
The period studied also includes the Covid pandemic, meaning the estimates reflect mortality conditions between 2019 and 2023 rather than predicting precisely how long a child born during those years will live.
The small-area figures use Census 2021 responses about people’s health and are not directly comparable with the ONS’s regular healthy life expectancy series, which uses the Annual Population Survey.
The findings come as plans progress to replace Nottinghamshire’s existing councils with two new unitary authorities. West Bridgford and parts of the surrounding area are due to become part of a new city-based authority, although the statistical differences do not indicate that changing council boundaries would itself alter health outcomes.
The ONS says healthy life expectancy is affected by the health and mortality patterns prevailing in each area. Wider factors including income, employment, housing, education and the local environment can also contribute to differences between communities.
Source: The ONS small-area health expectancy data was released on 30 July 2026.
