Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 39: Dunstable is younger than 85% of UK towns
27% of households live in a flat or apartment, against 23% across England’s towns. Households in detached houses account for 15%. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 37%, more than in just over three quarters of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 34,498 residents in 14,298 households.
What the Census says about Dunstable’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Dunstable’s residents are under 39 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 10% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Dunstable at 29,600 in 2011 and 35,800 in 2024, up 21%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 87% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
A growing town: +21% since 2011, faster than 87% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dunstable’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 29,600 people in 2011; 35,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 1,070. Growth was strongest among the 30 to 44 (+50%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−2%).
In Dunstable, 17% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 10%, against 12% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. 30–34 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dunstable, 39. 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.
5.4% of adults are full-time students, more than in 73% 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%.
Compared with 11% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Elsewhere, 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.
Dunstable households average 2.4 people, larger than in 77% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Bedfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Nothing unusual on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.4%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Locally, 31% of households have dependent children. At 29%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 61% of UK towns.
Dunstable: 17% of households have no car or van, above 59% 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
23% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns.
Above 92% of UK towns: 19% of 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 30%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
89% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (11%) and in the Middle East and Asia (3.3%).
Dunstable sits below 91% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (73%)
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: 73% of Dunstable · Bedfordshire’s towns 61% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents who describe themselves as Christian (51%), Dunstable is above 61% of UK towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (12%), Mixed or multiple (3.7%) and African (2.8%). This Bedfordshire town has fewer residents with no religion than 69% of UK towns, at 38%.
Dunstable ranks below 67% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 45%
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
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.2%, from the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 734.
Degree-level qualifications reach 29% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Dunstable, 17%, while 29% hold one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 38 in Dunstable West to 46 in Dunstable South
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Dunstable South is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Dunstable West the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Dunstable West (35% of households).
40th youngest of 203 UK towns of 24,000 to 47,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Hatfield (30.3) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Dunstable in age: Witham (38.9), Shipley (39), Warwick (39.2) and Haverhill (39.2).
Median age: 4 of the 7 towns around Dunstable 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunstable | 34,498 | — | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Houghton Regis | 18,814 | 1.7 mi | 36.5 | 12% | 37% |
| Totternhoe | 1,017 | 1.7 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 19% |
| Kensworth | 1,517 | 2.5 mi | 46 | 21% | 29% |
| Eaton Bray and Edlesborough | 4,201 | 2.6 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 25% |
| Caddington | 3,288 | 3.1 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Luton | 233,524 | 4 mi | 34.7 | 12% | 38% |
| Hockliffe | 1,068 | 4.2 mi | 38.4 | 13% | 32% |
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.
- “Bedfordshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Bedfordshire (or England), summed the same way as Dunstable’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. Dunstable’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,301 people in 2021, against 34,498 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 Dunstable’s residents
What is the population of Dunstable?
The 2021 Census counted 34,498 people in Dunstable’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 35,800 people in mid-2024, 21% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dunstable?
The median age was 39 at the 2021 Census, younger than 85% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dunstable?
73% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 61% across Bedfordshire’s towns. 19% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dunstable?
38% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Dunstable good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Dunstable West (35% of households). Schools are on Dunstable’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.