Photo: John Lamper · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 18: Bryanston is younger than 99% of UK towns
The share of married adults and civil partners is 29%, against 44% across England’s towns. Bryanston’s 152 households held 999 residents at the 2021 Census. For Bryanston, the census puts residents who describe themselves as Christian at 22%. 8% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 92% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 7.8% in Bryanston, less than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
44% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Bryanston is a campus town: students living in halls or boarding houses count as residents.
50% of adults are full-time students, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
In Bryanston, 16% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for full-time students is 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A lower share of one-person households than 69% of UK towns, at 28%
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 typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Here, 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. On households with dependent children, Bryanston sits lower than 54% of UK towns: 27%.
A smaller share of households in detached houses than 67% of UK towns: 23%
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
A quarter of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. The benchmark for households in detached houses across England’s towns: 21%. Households in flats: 10% of the total.
Bryanston: 11% of residents were born outside the UK, above 77% 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
Since 2017: 29% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns. For Bryanston, the census puts residents whose main language is English at 98%. The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
20% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% 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: 91% of Bryanston · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (4.3%), Mixed or multiple (2.9%) and Chinese (0.6%). Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. Bryanston has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than nearly three fifths of UK towns, at 91%.
3.9% of residents give unpaid care, below 99% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 7. 63% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 99% of UK towns. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Bryanston counts 26% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 17% have no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 15%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
The towns around Bryanston are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryanston | 999 | — | 18 | 7.8% | 27% |
| Blandford Forum | 11,805 | 1.2 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 24% |
| Charlton Marshall | 1,084 | 2.8 mi | 51.9 | 30% | 25% |
| Pimperne | 2,770 | 3 mi | 32.9 | 16% | 36% |
| Shillingstone | 1,165 | 3.3 mi | 52.9 | 29% | 22% |
| Child Okeford | 1,159 | 4.1 mi | 60.3 | 42% | 17% |
| Sturminster Newton | 3,565 | 6.7 mi | 48.2 | 28% | 24% |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 6.7 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 30% |
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 Bryanston’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 Bryanston’s residents
What is the population of Bryanston?
The 2021 Census counted 999 people in Bryanston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bryanston?
The median age was 18 at the 2021 Census. 44% of residents were 15 to 24 and 7.8% were 65 or over.
Is Bryanston a student village?
Yes: 50% of adults were full-time students at the 2021 Census (335 people), against 7.9% across England’s towns.
How diverse is Bryanston?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bryanston?
20% said they had no religion and 22% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 58% didn’t answer.
Is Bryanston good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bryanston’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.