Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0Abbotsbury is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 56.1
The share of unpaid carers is 12%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. 46% of households live in a terraced house. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 94% of UK towns. Abbotsbury is home to 214 residents in 111 households, by the 2021 Census.
Abbotsbury: 34% of residents are 65 or over, above 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 8%. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
57% women, 43% men
About 75 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Abbotsbury, 5.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 99% 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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Abbotsbury, 29% and 24%. Few places have so few full-time students: 4% here, fewer than in 83% of UK towns. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 15% in Abbotsbury, less than in 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dorset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
One-person households make up 37%, against 30% across England’s towns. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The average household has 2 people. Higher than in 95% of UK towns: 4.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Only 16% of households live in a detached house in Abbotsbury
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
The figure for households without a car or van is 14% in Abbotsbury and 24% across England’s towns. On top of that, 6.4% of households live in a flat, less than in 76% of UK towns; 16% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Above 89% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
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
7.4% of residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2.3%) or in Africa (2.3%).
53% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 71% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 97% of Abbotsbury · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here 40% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across England’s towns is 37%. Against that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 78% of UK towns
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 5 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in just over four fifths of UK towns: 43%. Across England’s towns, adults who have never married come to 39%.
30% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
30% of Abbotsbury’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 19% have none (18%).
Older than Abbotsbury: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbotsbury | 214 | — | 56.1 | 34% | 15% |
| Chickerell | 3,973 | 5.2 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
| Weymouth | 55,540 | 6.6 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 7.4 mi | 48.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Charminster | 1,732 | 7.6 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Maiden Newton | 1,128 | 7.8 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Bradpole | 1,257 | 8.4 mi | 50.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Bridport | 12,294 | 8.4 mi | 56.2 | 35% | 17% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Dorset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Dorset (or England), summed the same way as Abbotsbury’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 Abbotsbury’s residents
What is the population of Abbotsbury?
The 2021 Census counted 214 people in Abbotsbury’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Abbotsbury?
The median age was 56.1 at the 2021 Census. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Abbotsbury?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Abbotsbury?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Abbotsbury good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Abbotsbury’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.