Photo: Colin Vosper · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 48%
38% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 7.3%. On one-person households, Bournemouth sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 34%. The city’s 84,691 households held 196,453 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Bournemouth’s people
A student city
The 2021 Census counted 20,331 full-time students aged 16 and over, 12% of adults, against 7.9% across England’s towns: more than in 97% of UK towns. That shows in the ages: 15% of residents are 15 to 24. Students & newcomers ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Dorset
21% of residents were born outside the UK, against 11% across Dorset’s towns and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (10%) and in the Middle East and Asia (4.3%). Where people were born ↓
A city people move to
16% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns, and 1.5% gave a term-time address. Students & newcomers ↓
A city of flats
48% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 23% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Faster growth than 62% of UK towns: Bournemouth changed by +10% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Bournemouth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 183,500 people in 2011; 202,700 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2015 to mid-2016: 3,090 people. The 45 to 64 age group changed most (+14%) and the 16 to 29 least (+5%).
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 97% of UK towns: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 39.1, Bournemouth is younger than 85% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 18%. In Ashley Heath, the oldest of Dorset’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bournemouth, 39.1. 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.
Above 97% of UK towns: 12% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 16% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Bournemouth. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer family households than 75% of UK towns: 25% in Bournemouth
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.
A household here has 2.2 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children.
Fewer households in terraced houses than 97% of UK towns: 6.3%
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 in detached houses is 21%; Bournemouth has 31%. The census found that 23% of households have no car or van locally. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Bournemouth: 21% of residents born outside the UK
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (10%), then in the Middle East and Asia (4.3%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 88%, fewer than in 95% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns.
76% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 88% 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: 76% of Bournemouth · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion; in Bournemouth, 42%. Set beside that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Locally, 45% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Above 96% of UK towns: 44% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
4,314 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On unpaid carers, Bournemouth sits lower than 82% of UK towns: 8.1%. Against that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Bournemouth counts 33% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 15% have no qualification (18%). For 21%, A levels are the highest qualification so far, many of them students still working towards a degree.
From a median age of 28 in Winton to 52 in East Southbourne & Hengistbury Head
The city’s 23 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
East Southbourne & Hengistbury Head is the oldest area, with 33% aged 65 or over; Winton the youngest (median age 28). Students cluster in Winton, where 32% of adults are full-time students. Families with children are most common in Moordown (35% of households).
Among 43 UK towns of 138,000 to 265,000 people, the 11th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Cambridge (31.9), the youngest, and Poole (44.6), the oldest. Nearest to Bournemouth in age: Ipswich (39), Kensington and Chelsea (39.1), Kingswood and Fishponds (39.2) and Havering (39.4).
No nearby town is as young as Bournemouth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth | 196,453 | — | 39.1 | 18% | 25% |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 3.5 mi | 57.7 | 38% | 18% |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 3.6 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Poole | 141,009 | 4.4 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 26% |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 4.6 mi | 58.6 | 40% | 17% |
| Christchurch | 48,973 | 4.7 mi | 51.7 | 32% | 23% |
| Merley | 5,489 | 5.5 mi | 48.7 | 30% | 25% |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 5.6 mi | 56.5 | 38% | 19% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Bournemouth’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. Bournemouth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 196,587 people in 2021, against 196,453 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 Bournemouth’s residents
What is the population of Bournemouth?
The 2021 Census counted 196,453 people in Bournemouth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 202,700 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Bournemouth?
The median age was 39.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 85% of UK towns. 15% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
Is Bournemouth a student city?
Yes: 12% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (20,331 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns. In Winton, 32% of adults were students.
How diverse is Bournemouth?
76% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 21% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bournemouth?
42% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.5% were Muslim and 7.3% didn’t answer.
Is Bournemouth good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Moordown (35% of households). Schools are on Bournemouth’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.