Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0Ferndown is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 58.6
21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns, against 63% in Ferndown. Households with dependent children: 17% of the total. The town has fewer households in terraced houses than 98% of UK towns, at 5.2%. Census day 2021: 13,267 residents and 6,165 households in the town.
What the Census says about Ferndown’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Ferndown’s residents are under 58.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 40% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
A +9% change since 2011: faster than 56% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ferndown’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 12,600 people in 2011; 13,800 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2017 to mid-2018, up 300 people. The 30 to 44 group saw the biggest change (+23%), the 45 to 64 group the smallest (−4%).
In Ferndown, 40% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 9.9% of residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 7.1%, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ferndown, 58.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 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%.
One in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, against 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Ferndown households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 91% 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.
2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; across England’s towns the figure is 4.3%. Across Ferndown, nearly a third of households are one person living alone.
Ferndown: 21% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 85% 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
Households without a car or van make up 13%, against 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment.
In Ferndown, 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 68% 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
9.4% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). On residents born outside the UK, Ferndown sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 6.5%. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 90% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 85% of UK towns, at 56%
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 Ferndown · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Chinese (0.4%). By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White British: 94% here, more than in 62% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%; Ferndown has 36%.
Fewer adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 22%
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
8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, against 11% in Ferndown. The census found that 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership locally. As a yardstick, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 28% of its adults qualified to degree level, Ferndown compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 55 in Ferndown West & Canford Bottom to 63 in Ferndown Town
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Ferndown Town is the oldest area, with 47% aged 65 or over; Ferndown West & Canford Bottom the youngest (median age 55). Families with children are most common in Parley & Hampreston (19% of households).
2nd oldest of 406 UK towns of 9,000 to 18,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Ferndown in age: South Hayling (57.2), Selsey (57.2) and Sidmouth (60.4).
Of the 7 towns nearest Ferndown, 1 are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferndown | 13,267 | — | 58.6 | 40% | 17% |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 1.1 mi | 57.7 | 38% | 18% |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 1.3 mi | 56.5 | 38% | 19% |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 3 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 3.3 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 26% |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 3.4 mi | 60.6 | 42% | 16% |
| Merley | 5,489 | 3.5 mi | 48.7 | 30% | 25% |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 3.5 mi | 48.3 | 29% | 29% |
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 Ferndown’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. Ferndown’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,593 people in 2021, against 13,267 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 Ferndown’s residents
What is the population of Ferndown?
The 2021 Census counted 13,267 people in Ferndown’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,800 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ferndown?
The median age was 58.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 99% of UK towns. 7.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ferndown?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 6.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ferndown?
36% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Ferndown good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Parley & Hampreston (19% of households). Schools are on Ferndown’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.