Photo: J D Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 56: Chetnole is older than 97% of UK towns
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. 375 residents in 164 households: that is Chetnole at the 2021 Census. Here, 71% of households live in a detached house. Households with dependent children: 21%, below 93% of UK towns.
Chetnole: 34% of residents are 65 or over, above 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
In Chetnole, 5.9% of adults are full-time students, more than in 83% of UK towns
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Chetnole, 49% and 11%. Typically, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. In Chetnole, 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer people live alone than in 70% of UK towns: 27% of households
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 holds 2.3 people on average. Against that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Chetnole ranks below 99% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 2.5%
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 figure for households in flats is 1.2% in Chetnole and 23% across England’s towns. The usual figure: nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns. For Chetnole, the census puts households without a car or van at 5.5%.
More residents born abroad than 60% of UK towns: 7.5% in Chetnole
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.1%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.1%). 98% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 52% of UK towns. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Chetnole sits below 93% of UK towns for residents with no religion (30%)
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: 93% of Chetnole · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (3.2%) and Pakistani (0.3%). Higher than in 95% of UK towns: 61% of residents describe themselves as Christian. As a reference point, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Chetnole, 93%.
Above 99% of UK towns: 65% of adults are married or in 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
7 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are scarce here: 21%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 47%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 47% of Chetnole’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 9.6% have no qualification (18%).
Older than Chetnole: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetnole | 375 | — | 56 | 34% | 21% |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 4.1 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 24% |
| Sherborne | 10,359 | 5.9 mi | 50.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 6.2 mi | 40 | 19% | 28% |
| Maiden Newton | 1,128 | 6.3 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Milborne Port | 3,207 | 8.2 mi | 47.8 | 26% | 24% |
| Beaminster | 2,995 | 8.6 mi | 57.7 | 39% | 17% |
| Misterton | 1,037 | 8.9 mi | 50.4 | 27% | 21% |
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 Chetnole’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 Chetnole’s residents
What is the population of Chetnole?
The 2021 Census counted 375 people in Chetnole’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chetnole?
The median age was 56 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chetnole?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 7.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chetnole?
30% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Chetnole good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chetnole’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.