Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.3% in Durweston, less than in 97% of UK towns
One-person households: 24%, below 88% of UK towns. The share of households without a car or van stands at 9.7%. 53% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a higher share than in 82% of UK towns. Durweston had 378 residents in 156 households at the 2021 Census.
Older than 69% of UK towns: half of Durweston is over 47.1
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
There is little gap on residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, about the same as across England’s towns. In Durweston, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 78 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
Durweston: 5.9% of adults are full-time students, above 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 Durweston, 37% and 20%. Elsewhere, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Locally, 8.8% 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.
Larger households than 80% of UK towns: 2.4 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.
Little separates the share of households with dependent children here, 29%, from the figure across England’s towns.
Households in flats: 8.4%, a lower share than 63% 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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 23% of households live in a terraced house in Durweston. Higher than in 55% of UK towns: 31% of households live in a detached house.
99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 98% 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
5% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 90%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 77% 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: 95% of Durweston · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and African (0.5%). Durweston has fewer residents with no religion than 71% of UK towns, at 37%. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. Nearly half of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
In Durweston, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 76% 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
In Durweston, 9.9% of residents give unpaid care, beside 8.7% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 14 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 44% of Durweston’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 12% have no qualification (18%).
Nearby, 5 of 7 towns have older populations than Durweston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durweston | 378 | — | 47.1 | 22% | 29% |
| Blandford Forum | 11,805 | 2.2 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 24% |
| Shillingstone | 1,165 | 2.3 mi | 52.9 | 29% | 22% |
| Child Okeford | 1,159 | 3.1 mi | 60.3 | 42% | 17% |
| Pimperne | 2,770 | 3.7 mi | 32.9 | 16% | 36% |
| Charlton Marshall | 1,084 | 3.8 mi | 51.9 | 30% | 25% |
| Sturminster Newton | 3,565 | 5.7 mi | 48.2 | 28% | 24% |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 7.6 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 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 Durweston’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 Durweston’s residents
What is the population of Durweston?
The 2021 Census counted 378 people in Durweston’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Durweston?
The median age was 47.1 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Durweston?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Durweston?
37% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 12% didn’t answer.
Is Durweston good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Durweston’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.