Photo: Clive Perrin · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households without a car or van than 99% of UK towns: 4.1%
The figure for households in detached houses is 62% in Alderholt and 21% across England’s towns. On married adults and civil partners, Alderholt sits higher than 97% of UK towns: 59%. The town is home to 2,868 residents in 1,190 households, by the 2021 Census. Census figures put one-person households at 19% locally.
What the Census says about Alderholt’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Alderholt’s residents are under 50.4 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 25% 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.
+1% since 2011: slower than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Alderholt’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,900 people in 2011; 2,900 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+35%) and the 0 to 15 least (−19%). Mid-2022 to mid-2023 brought the biggest yearly rise, 50 people.
A median age of 50.4: Alderholt is older than 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Alderholt, one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across England’s towns. The census found that a quarter of residents are 65 or over in the town.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Alderholt, 50.4. 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.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 72% of UK towns: 7.7%
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%.
Two fifths of Alderholt’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Higher than in 54% of UK towns: 4.9% of adults are full-time students. As a reference point, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
Larger households than 84% of UK towns: 2.4 people on average
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.
3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. On top of that, on households with dependent children, Alderholt sits higher than just over half of UK towns: 27%.
Only 8% of households live in a terraced house in Alderholt
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 share of households in flats is 3.2%, against 23% across England’s towns. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
In Alderholt, 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 98% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK; in Alderholt, 4.2%. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%).
In Alderholt, 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more 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 Alderholt · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
42% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. For Alderholt, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 52%.
Only 25% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Alderholt
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
Unpaid carers: 9.8%, above 62% of UK towns. Measured more widely, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Some 74 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Degree-level qualifications reach 34% 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 Alderholt, 13%, while 34% hold one at degree level (34%).
116th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Keele is the youngest (20.6); West Chiltington the oldest (63.1). Nearest to Alderholt in age: Langport (50.4), New Romney (50.4), Hurworth-on-Tees (50.5) and Bawtry (50.5).
Nearby, 2 of 7 towns have older populations than Alderholt
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderholt | 2,868 | — | 50.4 | 25% | 27% |
| Sandleheath | 1,546 | 1.6 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 26% |
| Fordingbridge | 4,947 | 2.2 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 23% |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 3.1 mi | 49 | 28% | 26% |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 4.7 mi | 48.3 | 29% | 29% |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 4.9 mi | 47 | 26% | 26% |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 5.3 mi | 60.6 | 42% | 16% |
| Hightown | 1,296 | 5.6 mi | 48.4 | 23% | 30% |
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 Alderholt’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. Alderholt’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,868 people in 2021, against 2,868 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 Alderholt’s residents
What is the population of Alderholt?
The 2021 Census counted 2,868 people in Alderholt’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,900 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Alderholt?
The median age was 50.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 87% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Alderholt?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Alderholt?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Alderholt good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Alderholt’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.