Photo: John Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0Dolton is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 60.6
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Dolton has 5.9%. The village had 397 residents in 188 households at the 2021 Census. For Dolton, the census puts households in detached houses at 56%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are common here: 62%, more than in 97% of UK towns.
In Dolton, 41% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.1%, against 12% across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Dolton sits below 97% of UK towns for full-time students (3.3%)
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. The usual figure: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
In Dolton, 12% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 99% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.3%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.1 people on average. 28% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 69% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children.
Households in flats: 0.5%, a lower share than 99% 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
Households in terraced houses: 6.5%, below 96% of UK towns. For households in flats, the comparison across England’s towns is 23%.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 86% of UK towns
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born outside the UK: 4.8%, below 67% of UK towns. Set beside that, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
32% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 89% 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 Dolton · Devon’s towns 91% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Bangladeshi (0.3%). As a yardstick, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 84% of UK towns: 96%.
Dolton ranks above 97% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 12%
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
Across England’s towns, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Dolton, 23%. 55% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a higher share than in 87% of UK towns. The share of unpaid carers across England’s towns is 8.7%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 28%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Dolton, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 22% have no qualification at all (18%).
The towns around Dolton are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolton | 397 | — | 60.6 | 41% | 12% |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 4.4 mi | 53 | 33% | 21% |
| Great Torrington | 5,958 | 6.4 mi | 47.4 | 26% | 26% |
| Chulmleigh | 1,232 | 7.1 mi | 54.1 | 33% | 20% |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 8.7 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 25% |
| Okehampton | 9,108 | 10.6 mi | 43.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Bow | 1,122 | 11.3 mi | 46.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 11.7 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
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 Dolton’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Dolton’s residents
What is the population of Dolton?
The 2021 Census counted 397 people in Dolton’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Dolton?
The median age was 60.6 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 41% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dolton?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 91% across Devon’s towns. 4.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dolton?
32% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Dolton good for families?
12% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dolton’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). 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.