Photo: Martin Tester · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Cerne Abbas is over 61.2
One-person households make up 38%, against 30% across England’s towns. 29% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 95% of UK towns. Cerne Abbas counted 865 residents and 405 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 16% of households have dependent children.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns, at 43%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 6%, against 12% across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 79 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.
Cerne Abbas sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.3%)
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%.
Little separates the share of residents who moved in within the year here, 11%, from the figure across England’s towns. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2 people, below 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.
2.5% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.3% across England’s towns.
In Cerne Abbas, 8.7% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 89% of UK towns
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
30% of households live in a terraced house, against 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 6% of households live in a flat or apartment in Cerne Abbas. Few places have as many households in detached houses: 33% here, more than in just over three fifths of UK towns.
More residents born abroad than 63% of UK towns: 8% in Cerne Abbas
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). To put it in context, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The share of residents whose main language is English is 98%, against 90% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 62%, a higher share than 96% 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: 94% of Cerne Abbas · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.4%). Cerne Abbas has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 71% of UK towns, at 94%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married: 22%, a lower share than 98% 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
24 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Measured more widely, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, Cerne Abbas sits lower than three quarters of UK towns: 8.4%. The share of married adults and civil partners is 48%, against 44% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 41% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Cerne Abbas’s adults: 41% with a degree-level qualification and 14% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
No nearby town is as old as Cerne Abbas
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerne Abbas | 865 | — | 61.2 | 43% | 16% |
| Charlton Down | 1,487 | 4 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 31% |
| Maiden Newton | 1,128 | 4.5 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Charminster | 1,732 | 5.2 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 7 mi | 48.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Puddletown | 1,193 | 7.2 mi | 51.1 | 28% | 25% |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 8.8 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 21% |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 9.7 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 24% |
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 Cerne Abbas’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 Cerne Abbas’s residents
What is the population of Cerne Abbas?
The 2021 Census counted 865 people in Cerne Abbas’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cerne Abbas?
The median age was 61.2 at the 2021 Census. 6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 43% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cerne Abbas?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cerne Abbas?
29% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 8.6% didn’t answer.
Is Cerne Abbas good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cerne Abbas’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.