Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Dartmouth is older than 96% of UK towns: a median age of 54.3
The figure for one-person households is 38% in Dartmouth and 30% across England’s towns. At the 2021 Census Dartmouth was home to 5,260 people in 2,517 households. Across Dartmouth, 17% of households have dependent children. Higher than in 94% of UK towns: 29% of households live in a flat or apartment.
What the Census says about Dartmouth’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Dartmouth at 5,700 in 2011 and 5,300 in 2024, down 7%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 99% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Dartmouth’s residents are under 54.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
−7% since 2011: slower than 99% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dartmouth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,700 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+17%) and the 16 to 29 least (−19%).
Dartmouth: 32% of residents are 65 or over, above 94% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.8% in Dartmouth. In Budleigh Salterton, the oldest of Devon’s towns by this measure, it is 46%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dartmouth, 54.3. The typical town is 44.4.
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.
Dartmouth sits below 77% of UK towns for full-time students (4.2%)
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Dartmouth has 33% and 25%. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Households here average 2 people, below 98% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Devon’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
Dartmouth: 28% of households live in a terraced house, above 77% 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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 22% of households have no car or van here. The share of households in detached houses stands at 19%.
Dartmouth ranks above 69% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 8.8%
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
Here 96% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. Residents born outside the UK: 18% across England’s towns, for comparison. The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.8%).
More residents with no religion than 58% of UK towns: 42%
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: 92% of Dartmouth · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 49% here and 46% across England’s towns. Islam is the religion of 1.7% of residents. 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 51% of UK towns. To put it in context, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns.
Fewer adults who have never married than 61% of UK towns: 31%
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
For 159 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%. Lower than in three fifths of UK towns: 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Dartmouth sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 9.3%, about the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 32% of Dartmouth’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 33rd oldest of 516 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Dartmouth in age: Sandwich (54), Stokesley (54.2), Bovey Tracey (54.4) and Freckleton (54.6).
Around Dartmouth, 2 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth | 5,260 | — | 54.3 | 32% | 17% |
| Stoke Gabriel | 1,340 | 4.1 mi | 53.7 | 32% | 23% |
| Brixham | 17,839 | 4.2 mi | 55.6 | 34% | 18% |
| Paignton | 67,509 | 6.5 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 24% |
| Totnes | 9,217 | 7 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 23% |
| Chillington | 1,074 | 7.1 mi | 56.5 | 35% | 20% |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 7.3 mi | 54 | 31% | 24% |
| Torquay | 52,034 | 9.3 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Devon’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Devon (or England), summed the same way as Dartmouth’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. Dartmouth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,260 people in 2021, against 5,260 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 Dartmouth’s residents
What is the population of Dartmouth?
The 2021 Census counted 5,260 people in Dartmouth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, 7% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dartmouth?
The median age was 54.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 96% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dartmouth?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 8.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dartmouth?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.7% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Dartmouth good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dartmouth’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.