Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 87% of UK towns: half of Bere Regis is over 50.5
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 73% across England’s towns. The share of households with dependent children stands at 22%. Few places have as many one-person households: 35% here, more than in 88% of UK towns. Bere Regis had 1,320 residents in 610 households at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Bere Regis’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Bere Regis’s residents are under 50.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 28% 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).
Bere Regis ranks above 85% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 28%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: nearly one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Locally, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 97% of UK towns: 6%
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%.
4.2% of adults are full-time students (England’s towns: 7.9%). The share of residents who moved in within the year across England’s towns is 11%.
Smaller households than 90% of UK towns: 2.1 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.3%.
A larger share of households in flats than 76% of UK towns: 17%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%; Bere Regis has 12%. The wider picture: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. For Bere Regis, the census puts households in terraced houses at 26%. Fewer households in detached houses than in 53% of UK towns: 28%.
Residents whose main language is English make up 100% in Bere Regis, more than in 99% 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
Born outside the UK: 4.3% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns. The usual figure: nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.6%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%).
Bere Regis: 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 58% 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: 97% of Bere Regis · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (42%), Bere Regis is above 54% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Adults who have never married make up 27% in Bere Regis, less than in 83% 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
Married adults and civil partners make up 48%, against 44% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in nearly four fifths of UK towns. Measured more widely, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Bere Regis, 30%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
Of the 7 towns nearest Bere Regis, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bere Regis | 1,320 | — | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 3.2 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 21% |
| Wool | 5,044 | 4 mi | 37.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Puddletown | 1,193 | 5.5 mi | 51.1 | 28% | 25% |
| Wareham | 5,876 | 6.1 mi | 52.6 | 32% | 21% |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 6.1 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 6.2 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 27% |
| Sandford | 2,004 | 6.3 mi | 52 | 29% | 26% |
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 Bere Regis’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 Bere Regis’s residents
What is the population of Bere Regis?
The 2021 Census counted 1,320 people in Bere Regis’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bere Regis?
The median age was 50.5 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 28% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bere Regis?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bere Regis?
42% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Bere Regis good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bere Regis’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.